NEWS RELEASE  

December 6, 1995     For Immediate Release 

BREITKREUZ EXPOSES GLARING CONTRADICTIONS IN LIBERAL UI REFORMS  

"If a 5 cent drop in UI premiums creates 20,000 jobs, why not reduce premiums even lower?"  

Ottawa - Yesterday, during debate of a Bloc Motion in the House of Commons, Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, asked Lloyd Axworthy, Minister of Human Resources Development(HRD) to explain the obvious contradictions in his legislation to change Unemployment Insurance (UI) to Employment Insurance (EI). Before starting his questioning, Breitkreuz complimented Axworthy on being a good speaker, "I am sure he would do very well selling air conditioning units at the north pole."  

He continued, "Back in 1941 the federal government was granted constitutional authority to run an Unemployment Insurance program, not an Employment Insurance program. Further, since 1971 the Unemployment Insurance program has never run as a true insurance program. Why does the Minister not take this opportunity to return the program to true insurance principles?" asked Breitkreuz.  

The Saskatchewan MP also asked Axworthy, "Is there a long range plan behind all of this? I ask this for a reason. The Minister in his own press releases has said that a 5 cent reduction in UI premiums will create approximately 20,000 jobs. If we can create 20,000 jobs with only a five cent drop in premiums, what is stopping the Minister from reducing the premiums even more and creating tens of thousands more jobs?  

Even the Bloc Quebecois who introduced the motion condemning the Liberal government's changes to the UI program did not escape Breitkreuz' interrogation. He asked Bloc MP Francine Lalonde, "It becomes very obvious to me as I listen that the Bloc are only interested in Quebec. I have a very difficult time to see how her concerns differ in any way from the concerns all Canadians have. She states they want a vibrant economy, they want jobs. Is that not true for all of Canada? She says we have a culture in Quebec. Do we not have a culture in the rest of Canada?" asked Breitkreuz.  

"Unfortunately, the questions Reformers ask seldom get answered and if they do they are answers that wouldn't make sense to a common sense Canadian," concluded Breitkreuz. 

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For more information please call: 

Yorkton: - (306) 782-3309 

Ottawa: - (613) 992-4394