IMAGES

Bruce Edwards, The
Journal, file

Alberta's unofficial
motto, as the current oil boom attracts workers from across
Canada

We pay slackers to stay home: How EI discourages migration of
labour
The Edmonton Journal
Tue 25 Jul 2006

Page: F1 / Front
Section: Business
Byline: Gary Lamphier
Column:
Gary Lamphier
Source: The Edmonton Journal

So come all you fine young fellows who've been beaten to
the ground

This western life's no paradise, but it's better than lying down

Oh, the streets aren't clean, and there's nothing green, and the hills are
dirty brown

But the government dole will rot your soul back there in your home town

So bid farewell to the eastern town you never more will see

There's self-respect and a steady cheque in this refinery

You will miss the green and the woods and streams and the dust will fill your
nose

But you'll be free, and just like me, an idiot, I suppose

-- The Idiot, by Stan Rogers

For anyone willing to put in an honest day's work, life has gotten
considerably more comfy since Canadian folk icon Stan Rogers penned those wry
lyrics before his sudden death in 1983.

These days, you can have your cake and eat it, too. Forget about bidding
goodbye to your hometown, whether it's Gander, Truro or Kimberley. If you want
to retain your home and family ties while commuting to a job in Fort McMurray,
companies like Canadian Natural Resources are more than happy to accommodate
you.

Don't like living in a workers' camp? No problem. There are plenty of
good-paying jobs in cities like Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer and Grande Prairie.
Parts of British Columbia are also crying for workers. No matter. In today's
Canada, many people would rather stay home and collect pogey than go where the
jobs are.

That's why the unemployment rate in Newfoundland remains north of 15 per
cent, and the rate in Prince Edward Island approaches 11 per cent, at a time
when Canada's overall jobless rate is just 6.1 per cent, the lowest in 32 years.

Some people have solid reasons for staying put, of course. They may be caring
for aging parents, dependent children or disabled siblings.

But many don't. Move? Forget it. That's, well, so inconvenient.

In fact, Canadians are actively encouraged, through a system of regionally
tilted employment insurance incentives, to stay in parts of the country that
suffer from high unemployment -- such as Newfoundland, Quebec's Gaspe region, or
P.E.I. -- rather than move to places like Alberta.

Most politicians don't like to talk about this. And no wonder. Anyone who
does risks being branded a heartless redneck.

Just ask Tory MP Brian Jean, who represents Alberta's Fort McMurray-Athabasca
riding. He recently told a parliamentary committee that Ottawa needs to find
ways to help unemployed workers move to Alberta's labour-hungry oilsands region.

This was simply too much for Liberal MP Jean-Claude D'Amours of New Brunswick
to bear. He compared Jean's suggestion to the forced deportation of Acadians by
the British in the 18th century. Harumph.

Histrionics aside, it's abundantly clear that Canada's inequitable employment
insurance system is not only unfair, it's also impeding economic growth. It
encourages reliance on pogey as an income supplement and discourages workers
from pursuing paying jobs and meaningful careers.

Most Canadians know this, of course. It's been going on for decades. But in
the world of politically correct official-speak, it's rarely discussed. And
that's why a document issued last week by Yvan
Guillemette, a public policy analyst at the
C.D. Howe Institute, makes
for such refreshing reading.

The brief report -- titled, Misplaced Talent: The Rising Dispersion of
Unemployment Rates in Canada -- affirms that Canada's low jobless rate masks
"severe local disparities" from province to province and even within provinces.

In Quebec's Gaspe region, for instance, the unemployment rate was a
staggering 22.7 per cent in March, while the rate in south-central Manitoba and
parts of Alberta was little more than two per cent.

"Not only are there permanent gaps between regional unemployment rates and
the national average," wrote Guillemette, "but these gaps have wid-ened as
countrywide unemployment came down during the past decade."

In other words, unemployed workers in regions with stubbornly high jobless
rates simply aren't moving to places where jobs exist. This is creating growing
regional disparities, notably in Newfoundland, Quebec and B.C.

Why is this? Guillemette points the finger squarely at the federal Employment
Insurance program. Specifically, he outlines a series of initiatives that were
introduced by the former Liberal government to make EI benefits more readily
accessible, and more lucrative, in parts of the country where unemployment
remains stubbornly high.

Those changes include more generous formulas for calculating benefits,
reductions in the number of employment hours needed to qualify for benefits and
extended benefit entitlement periods.

"The effect of these provisions is to inhibit the intra- and inter-regional
mobility of workers," says Guillemette. "By raising the total income associated
with seasonal and sporadic work patterns, they encourage workers with precarious
labour market attachment to stay put."

In other words, slackers are encouraged to remain slackers. And you and I get
to pay for it. Isn't that nice?

Guillemette's solution? Eliminate the regional incentive programs, and go
back to a system that applies the same rules nationwide. That way, the
unemployed have a clear financial incentive to seek work. Wherever it takes
them.

[email-masked]

Illustration:
• Colour Photo: Bruce Edwards, The
Journal, file / Alberta's unofficial motto, as the current oil boom attracts
workers from across Canada

Edition: Final
Story Type: Business; Column

Length: 843 words