Changes to the federal employment insurance program are fair to Atlantic Canada's seasonal workers, contrary to assertions by the region's premiers, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Tuesday.
Statistics Canada says the number of people receiving regular employment insurance benefits was virtually unchanged at 528,900 in February following three months of declining numbers.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says Ottawa is looking at ways to resolve the case of an Ontario mom and cancer survivor who is fighting for sickness benefits claimed while she was on maternity leave.
A mother and cancer survivor says she doesn’t understand why the federal government is appealing a decision that awarded her employment insurance sickness benefits worth $5,000 while she was on maternity leave.
The federal government has been setting annual targets -- with dollar totals -- for investigators looking into improper Employment Insurance payments since 1993, say officials with the Human Resources Department.
The federal government admitted Monday that it expects civil servants to find nearly half a million dollars per year in fraudulent employment insurance claims, but denies opposition charges it has set quotas for investigators.
Canadians looking for work while claiming Employment Insurance will see several changes take effect Sunday as reforms to the EI program announced in last year’s budget are implemented.
The Harper government has quietly relented in the face of bruising criticism that changes it recently made to Employment Insurance were punishing those who could least afford it.
