Liberal leadership contender Karina Gould promises EI reforms, universal basic income as PM
Karina Gould says stronger social supports needed, especially in light of U.S. tariff threat
Federal Liberal leadership candidate Karina Gould says she would widen the eligibility for Canada's employment insurance system, and introduce a universal basic income program if she becomes the country's next prime minister.
Gould said Canada's current EI program isn't working for everyone, with payments that take too long to be processed and requirements that leave some seasonal and contract workers without support.
"There are many people who don't qualify for EI," the Burlington, Ont. MP said Thursday during a stop in Fredericton as part of her leadership campaign.
"Maybe they haven't made up the number of hours, and the number of hours is inconsistent across the country. And again, [it is] a system that was created for the work world of the 1980s and the 1990s, and not one of 2025."
Gould said she'd bring forward her plan to "modernize" the EI regime within a year of her becoming prime minister.
She said she would also bolster supports for vulnerable seniors and people with disabilities, and begin work on introducing a universal basic income.
"I think we have to improve what we have right now to set us on a path for what a basic income could look like," she said.
Gould is one of five candidates vying to succeed Justin Trudeau as the next leader of the Liberal party.
The party is expected to select a new leader by March 9, ahead of a federal election that must take place no later than this fall.
Timely amid tariffs threat
With the threat of U.S. tariffs, Gould said the topic of social supports is timely.
President Donald Trump says he plans to impose sweeping 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports starting March 4, with lower 10-per cent tariffs specifically on energy products.
That would be piled on top of a 25 per cent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports, which Trump says will take effect March 12.
Gould said the tariffs could result in economic damage similar to what the COVID-19 pandemic caused, with up to a million Canadians losing their jobs.
If that does happen, a more robust EI system, in combination with a basic income program, could reduce the need for ad hoc emergency relief.
"We owe Canadians that comfort, that knowledge, that expectation that when they fall, the government is there not just to catch them, but to ensure that they can rebound even more successfully," she said.
Weighing appetite for change
The nature of Canada's workforce has changed since EI supports were last significantly updated, said Geranda Notten, a professor at the University of Ottawa who studies poverty and social policy.
More and more people now hold part-time jobs and work unusual or inconsistent hours. Notten said while they still pay EI premiums, many of them are left ineligible to claim EI due to current criteria for how many hours must be worked.
"The program hasn't caught up, so… I would say that is a good reason for considering a reform," she said.
At the same, she said broadening EI eligibility would mean raising employee premiums, or taxes in order to pay for it.
It's a move that could have mixed reception among workers as they head to the polls later this year.
"I don't think there would be a huge amount of taste for increasing [EI] contributions," she said.
"But at the same time, there's a lot of people that are currently not benefiting from the contributions they already make, so you will not get a win-win situation."
Notten said introducing a basic income program faces the same dilemma. While there is evidence it would help lift people out of poverty, it would come at a cost to others.
"You will have to make sure that people pay more taxes, whether that is through scrapping credits... or whether that is by increasing federal tax rates.
"There is no free lunch on that one."
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