Ch. 5- Number of Canadians on EI rises in December

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080226/statscan_ei_080226/20080226/

This article discusses the distinct increase of Canadians receiving EI benefits. It has been recorded that in December 458,900 Canadians received EI benefits. That was 10,060 more Canadians than in the previous month of November and the first increase in 5 months. Statistics Canada has reported that in 8 different provinces the number of residents receiving EI benefits has increased more than 2 percent in provinces such as Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Quebec. However compared to December 2006 the number of residents receiving EI benefits fell 5%. In total our government spent $705 million.

This article relates to chapter 5 because in the beginning of the chapter we learned about EI benefits and how the benefits were important part of the economy. The number of people employed and unemployed would contribute to the labour force, which was also a topic we covered in chapter 5. However, even though EI benefits are suppose to be a positive aspect in the economy, there are some negative aspects to the employment insurance as well.

By observing the increase in December it could possibly become an alarming issue that such a massive increase all of a sudden in the economy could be a sign that something is wrong. With so many people unemploymed unvoluntarily, does that mean that some aspect of our economy is heading towards a recession? Or is it that a resource is not being used well enough to sustain the company employees? I agree that EI benefits are beneficial to the economy and to workers who are trying to make a living. However, with EI benefits comes with people who could potentially try to cheat and exploit the government. This would be the disadvantage of the EI benefits, because it is hard to track a person's progress. They do have to file a report between periods of time, but there is no way of tracking down each one to verify the information. But EI benefits do provide a balance and sort of like a catching net, for workers who unfortunately had to unvoluntarily leave their job. The EI benefits acts as the government's way of helping a worker out and lendng a hand, so that the worker may get a new job and get back on their feet.