Diane Finley Flip Flops on EI

If you require further proof that the Conservatives are flying by the seat of their pants, Human Resources Minister Diane Finley recently made one statement regarding reform to EI, while Stephen Harper completely contradicted it.

Diane's husband, Doug Finley, is in Harper's inner circle, so you'd think communications would be better than this.

Mind you Diane was the one who sent out an email during the Parliamentary crisis, calling Gilles Duceppe a 'citizen of France', that had three spelling errors; so if she can't even use Spellchecker I doubt she'd understand any memo sent by the PMO, even if her husband did draft it.


EI changes 'far from a done deal'
By ALTHIA RAJ,
National Bureau,
Sun Media
June 12, 2009

OTTAWA — A senior government minister appeared to flip-flop yesterday on whether the Conservatives plan to reform employment insurance.

Human Resources Minister Diane Finley said EI changes were far from a done deal and would depend on the state of the economy.

“We will examine the economy, and if there is a need to do more, we will look at the options,” she said. “If we need to act, we will.”

But those comments seemed to contradict those of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who said Thursday EI reforms would be on the agenda after Parliament’s summer break.

“The EI system is not perfect. We are looking at more improvements for the fall,” Harper said.

Yesterday, Finley said the government’s EI plan is currently addressing the needs of the recession.

A few hours later, however, the minister contradicted herself, telling the House of Commons the prime minister was right and there would be reforms in the fall.

“The prime minister said (Thursday) there would changes to ameliorate the system and respond to the needs of the unemployed,” she told MPs. (after saying that EI was already addressing those needs)

Dimitri Soudas, the prime minister’s press secretary, said the minister wasn’t being inconsistent. The government is studying the possibility of reforms, he said.

“We do expect more job losses over the next little while, and therefore, ministers and cabinet are considering options for further improvements to the EI system sometime in the fall,” he said.

Opposition parties attacked the Conservatives for waiting for job losses to mount before fixing EI.

Bloc Quebecois MP Christiane Gagnon said unemployed workers don’t have time to wait. She called for a complete revamp of the EI system. “The government acknowledges there are problems with employment insurance, why don’t they fix them now?” she asked.

Liberal finance critic John McCallum said reforms in the fall are better than nothing, but EI changes should be made before the summer break, when more Canadians are likely to be laid off.

“There is so much unemployment already ... so why wait?” McCallum said. “Perhaps, the government isn’t serious, perhaps it doesn’t want to make any changes?”

The NDP noted not one Conservative MP voted in favour of a New Democrat reform bill earlier this week. The Liberals and the Bloc Quebecois supported the legislation, which would have extended EI benefits and expanded access.

THE CONSERVATIVES. MAKING IT UP AS THEY GO ALONG!

Down in the Polls Layton Doesn't Want an Election

As Michael Ignatieff has been slowly gaining ground, much of it has been at the expense of Jack Layton and the NDP.

Now as the threat of a summer election looms over prosed changes to EI, Mr. Layton has publicly stated that he will not support a non-confidence motion, but will continue to allow the Conservatives to run ram shod over everything that Canada stands for.

I guess I can understand his position, but choosing to leave many of Canada's unemployed out in the cold, might be a difficult thing for him to explain when an election actually takes. The NDP were always for labour, so now he's going to vote against workers.

I really like Jack Layton and have voted for him twice, but I hope he's really thought this through. If Harper stands firm on not wanting to help the unemployed, and Layton supports it .... ba bye!

Layton says he won't force summer election
May. 31 2009
CTV.ca News Staff

Jack Layton says he won't force a confidence vote in the House of Commons in the final weeks of the current Parliamentary session, but he is prepared to face the electorate should the Liberals choose to bring down the Conservative government.

Layton reiterated Sunday that his goals for the next few weeks include getting an NDP EI reform bill passed and changing the Canada Pension Plan before MPs go to their home ridings for the summer.

"Our intention is to use the remaining weeks to try to get some action on these issues in the House of Commons," Layton said during an interview on CTV's Question Period. "We won't be moving a confidence motion. We're going to try to move motions that get results for people."

The NDP has called for a range of CPP reforms, including protection for public sector pensions and more oversight for the investment practices of CPP fund managers.

The party also wants a number of EI reforms, including reducing the number of hours worked to qualify, extending benefits to self-employed workers and eliminating waiting periods.

The party's EI reform bill will be tabled in the House on June 10.

Layton said rather than try to bring down the government over the issue, he is willing to accept amendments to the legislation from the other parties.

"I don't think Canadians would want us to (force an election)," Layton said.

"What they would want us to do is get their pensions protected, get the EI system fixed. So that's exactly what we've been doing and we'll continue to do that. As to what the other parties will do, they will have to make up their own minds. We're prepared for an election if it comes to it."

Now I'm all for everything that Jack Layton is proposing and I hope that he can change Harper's mind. However, I still wonder what he will do and how he can justify, simply accepting the status quo.

This Conservative government has got to go while we still have a country left to proud of. He knows that. We know that. Maybe, like Harper, Layton is just in it for himself.