To the editor:
The federal Conservatives will be charging Canadian taxpayers billions of dollars in Employment Insurance (EI) taxes – more than what is needed to pay for the program’s benefits, according to a recent report by the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO).
The PBO says these artificially high taxes will cost the Canadian economy 10,000 jobs over the next two years.
The PBO also found that another EI program, the Conservatives’ Small Business Job Credit, will create only 800 jobs over two years despite a price tag of more than $550 million. That means it will cost Canadian taxpayers nearly $700,000 for each new job.
In some cases, this “job” credit will even pay employers to lay off workers, leading economists to call it a “disincentive to growth.”
Together these two Conservative EI policies are expected to kill 9,200 Canadian jobs. So why are the Conservatives going ahead with their EI scheme?
The Conservatives are using excessively high EI taxes to help create a federal surplus on the eve of an election. They have grown out-of-touch with the priorities of Canadians and are putting politics ahead of Canadian jobs.
Meanwhile, Canadians continues to face slow economic growth and disturbingly high rates of long-term unemployment. Growth in some provinces is being offset by weaker economies elsewhere in the country.
Canadians deserve a plan from their government to create jobs and growth across the country. But instead of strengthening the Canadian economy, the Conservative EI plan will leave thousands of Canadians out of work.
Scott Brison, MP
Liberal Finance Critic
