The Premier of Nova Scotia came out this week and said the Prime Minister’s defence of EI reforms lacks evidence – and CUPE NL is urging Premier Dunderdale to follow his lead.
CUPE NL President Wayne Lucas says, “Good for Premier Dexter for calling out Stephen Harper on these dramatic changes to a program that the federal government does not pay one red cent into. Our EI system is funded entirely by workers and employers.
“We believe our premier and the three other Atlantic premiers are doing the right thing by demanding a moratorium on the changes. We’d like to see an equally critical position on the EI cuts coming from our provincial leader,” says Lucas.
In Charlottetown last week, Harper labeled claims from the premiers that new rules are harming seasonal workers or forcing them to leave Atlantic Canada as ‘misinformation’.
Dexter shot back this week by saying the PM and federal officials haven’t shown the premiers any evidence to back up this statement.
The four Atlantic provinces have announced plans to appoint a panel to look at the impact of the federal changes to EI.