MP fights Montague EI centre closure

Cardigan MP Lawrence MacAulay and Senator Catherine Callbeck are calling on the federal government to reverse its decision to close the Employment Insurance processing centre in Montague, P.E.I.

Service Canada is moving to consolidate its EI processing and call centres, and the office in Montague is slated to close in March 2014.

The move is part of an ongoing effort to streamline and automate the EI process.

MacAulay — who met Monday night with workers from the Montague office — said they are not only concerned about the loss of jobs but about the impact of the closure to people who are filing for employment insurance.

"[The workers] understand better than most people on Prince Edward Island what will happen to the people when they file for EI," said MacAulay.

"When it goes to the computerized system, if there is one little thing wrong, it will be spit out. There will be no decision made and you'll wait and wait and wait. It is going to be a massive problem."

MacAulay said it makes no sense to close the only claims processing centre in the province, especially one that has been a top performer in Canada for the last decade.

Callbeck is echoing MacAulay's concerns and said she is pushing for details on why the decision was made and on the planning process for the new system.