Premier Rachel Notley says changes to EI program don't add up

Premier Rachel Notley says the federal government's "arbitrary" boundaries that dictate which regions qualify for enhanced employment insurance benefits just don't add up, and Alberta will continue to fight for the program to be expanded.

The Liberal government picked 12 regions it said needed the most help, adding extra weeks of EI benefits for jobless workers in parts of Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, northern British Columbia, northern Manitoba, northern Ontario, northern Saskatchewan, Whitehorse and Nunavut.

Albertans have contributed to the EI system for many, many years more than they have taken out.- Premier Rachel Notley

Calgary was included, but Edmonton was left out.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who visited both cities earlier this week, defended his government's decision to exclude, for now, the Edmonton region from the enhanced benefits program.  

"We are applying the cold, hard mathematics," Trudeau said. "If there was politics brought into this, we might have made other choices. We are making decisions based on evidence, not on popularity or political convenience."

Notley told CBC News she was pleased that EI benefits have been "significantly enhanced" in some parts of Alberta, and in other provinces.

"We are very concerned about what's going on with Edmonton," she said. "[On Wednesday] the prime minister talked about math. Well, in my view it's not about math. It's about families and it's about people who are suffering."

Notley said Albertans have earned the right to get quicker access to higher employment insurance benefits.

"As you know," she said, "Albertans have contributed to the EI system for many, many years more than they have taken out."

Though it was left out of the enhanced program, Notley said the Edmonton region includes communities where the local economy is intrinsically linked to the faltering oil and gas industry.

When commodity prices drop, there is usually a lag before the impact shows up in unemployment numbers, she said.

Trudeau promises to 'keep an eye' on issue

The premier said she wonders exactly what Trudeau meant when he said his government will "keep an eye" on the issue.

"It's very possible that Edmonton, based on the current rules that the federal government is using, would become eligible in May," she said. "In our view, if that's what happens, then that's when the rules need to be reconsidered, and the eligibility and the scope of the program be expanded."

Last week, federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced people in 12 zones across Canada hardest hit by the economic downturn will find it easier to qualify for benefits and receive them for a longer period of time.

But Notley said some communities across the country that are now eligible for the enhanced EI program actually have lower unemployment rates than Edmonton does. She mentioned Saskatoon and Whitehorse.

"That doesn't make sense to us," said Notley, who called the boundaries that dictate which regions qualify under the program "particularly arbitrary."

She said if the federal government continues to suggest it will review the program every 12 months, "then that will be a very, very serious problem that you will hear a great deal more from us on."

Earlier this week, Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci also said the federal Liberals were wrong to exclude Edmonton, Leduc and Nisku from employment insurance changes.

"Everybody who drives up Highway 2 knows that Leduc and Nisku are prime oil sector communities and that those communities have been hard hit by the downturn," Ceci said. "So this is not the right decision, and we'll continue to press the federal government to reverse this decision as quickly as they possibly can."

Ceci accused the federal government of using old numbers when it made the decision to exclude Edmonton.