PEI

Atlantic premiers to get first look at EI report this week

A new employment insurance report will be presented at the Council of Atlantic Premiers meeting in Saint John on Monday, says P.E.I. Premier Robert Ghiz.

P.E.I. Premier Robert Ghiz expects study will be publicly released in a few weeks

P.E.I. Premier Robert Ghiz says a new employment insurance report will be presented at the Council of Atlantic Premiers annual meeting. (CBC)
A new employment insurance report will be presented at the Council of Atlantic Premiers meeting in Saint John on Monday, says P.E.I. Premier Robert Ghiz.

It will be the premiers' first chance to look at the report, which examines how employment insurance is affecting Atlantic Canadians, Ghiz said.

The results are expected to be used to help convince the federal government to alter changes it made to EI.

Ghiz expects it will be released to the public a few weeks after the meeting.

The council of Atlantic Premiers announced the study at its 2013 annual meeting, calling it urgent. But the task force assigned to its creation missed several release deadlines.

While the report will likely be the main focus of discussions, there is a full meeting agenda, he said.

"Other issues, you know we're looking at more joint procurement. We believe that there's opportunities for us to save dollars by working together. We are looking at labour mobility. We are still working together on immigration, realizing that we've got aging populations here in Atlantic Canada and we need to increase our population base."

Ghiz also expects federal infrastructure funding will be discussed.

A media briefing is scheduled for Monday afternoon.