Insurance

Helping areas 'particularly hard hit'

The Liberal government's first budget last week gave workers in resource-rich parts of the country such as Alberta and Northern Ontario an extra five weeks of employment insurance benefits amid concerns that many are about to run out of EI payments.

The budget also promised older workers in those areas an extra 20 weeks of benefits up to a total of 70 weeks so they wouldn't have to worry about paying the bills while they looked for a new job, which usually takes them longer than younger workers.

Morneau said the government is making other changes to the employment insurance program that are designed to help the entire country, including cutting waiting times for applicants to receive their first payments.
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Sunday Scrum on the Liberal budget11:08

"We made changes that are impacting everyone — all across Saskatchewan, all across Alberta, and all across the country — and then specific ones that are impacting Northern Ontario, parts of Alberta, parts of Saskatchewan, all of Newfoundland and Labrador," Morneau said in the interview.

"That was the choice we made in order to help those areas that have been particularly hard hit."

Morneau also said the Liberals expect low- and middle-income families to spend money they receive through tax breaks and a new, income-tested child benefit unveiled in the budget and that will help the economy. He said the average payment to families from the new child benefit will be about $2,300 per child.
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Ambrose challenges Morneau on his budget1:17

Morneau's on-air appearances were his first to sell the budget on Sunday morning political talk shows. Morneau was pushed in his television appearances to defend the employment insurance decision and the Liberals running a $29.4 billion deficit this year, the first of five years of deficits that total $113 billion.

He repeated the government's new mantra that future spending decisions will be based on economic growth rather than specific, fiscal-discipline benchmarks.