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OO RUEHGA RUEHQU RUEHVC
DE RUEHOT #0870/01 3102123
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 062121Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0061
INFO ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 000870 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON CA
SUBJECT: CANADA: CONSERVATIVES AID JOBLESS, BUY TIME 
 
REF: OTTAWA 719 
 
OTTAWA 00000870  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: On November 5, the federal Conservatives 
unexpectedly secured swift final passage of Employment Insurance 
(E.I.) legislation to extend jobless benefits.  The achievement is 
the key deliverable for the left-of-center New Democratic Party 
(NDP), which stepped in to prop up the minority government after 
the Liberals abruptly withdrew their support in September (reftel). 
Separately, the government is fast-tracking companion E.I. 
legislation (C-56) to extend maternity and special benefits to the 
self-employed, as well as pushing a fiscal stimulus bill through 
the House of Commons.  The economic package should be enough to 
keep NDP support into 2010, buying the government time to craft a 
spring budget.  End summary 
 
 
 
PHASE I: HELP LONG-TENURED WORKERS 
 
 
 
¶2.   (U) The federal government introduced C-50, an E.I. reform 
bill, on September 16, two days after the House of Commons resumed 
from its summer recess.  Bill C-50 extends the benefit period of 
regular Employment Insurance (E.I.) payments by up to 20 weeks to 
unemployed long-tenured workers who had paid premiums to the 
program for a significant period of time, but had previously made 
limited or no use of the program.  The government estimated the 
bill will help 190,000 eligible claimants. 
 
 
 
¶3. (U) Human Resources Minister Diane Finley emphasized that the 
time-limited measure was "fair" and "the right thing to do," but 
also financially prudent as the government "continues to make 
responsible choices... to meet current needs" without incurring 
ongoing structural obligations.  The Bill extends benefits on a 
temporary basis until fall 2011.  The benefits are in addition to 
measures in the government's Economic Action Plan announced in the 
January federal budget which extended an extra five weeks of 
regular Employment Insurance benefits (E.I.) to all insured 
workers, increased the benefit period to 50 weeks in regions of 
high unemployment, and provided additional support for transitional 
skills training. 
 
 
 
A LIBERAL "CHANGE OF HEART" 
 
 
 
¶4.  (U) With NDP support, the government passed Bill C-50 after 48 
days in the House of Commons.  Both the Liberals and Bloc Quebecois 
opposed it on the grounds that it offered too little aid to the 
jobless.  The Bill moved to the Senate or upper house on November 
¶4.  Observers had expected the Liberal majority in the unelected 
Senate to delay or amend it, but the Senate expedited the Bill and 
passed it without amendment on November 5.  Liberal Senator Joseph 
Day, the Chair of the Senate National Finance Committee, attributed 
the quick turn-around to the Committee's "pre-study" of the Bill 
before it arrived in the Senate.  However, he also acknowledged a 
delay would have elicited "the typical argument that we are not 
sensitive to the plight of the unemployed." 
 
 
 
PHASE II: AID FOR THE SELF-EMPLOYED 
 
 
 
¶5. (U) As Phase II of proposed E.I. reform, the government 
introduced Bill C-56, Fairness for the Unemployed Act, on November 
3 to allow self-employed workers to opt into the E.I. plan on a 
voluntary basis to access maternity, parental leave, sickness, and 
compassionate care leave.  The Bill, which Minister Finley 
described as "good family policy," fulfills a 2008 Conservative 
election pledge.  The government appears to be fast-tracking the 
measure which all the opposition parties allowed to pass to 
committee on November 5 without a recorded vote.  Similarly, the 
government has pushed passage of Bill C-51, the Economic Recovery 
Act, to implement a popular home renovation tax credit, first-time 
home buyers' credit, and other fiscal stimulus measures left over 
from the January federal budget.  The Government House Leader 
confirmed November 5 that the government wants to complete all 
stages of the Bill in the Commons by November 6. 
 
OTTAWA 00000870  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Conservative Party contacts told PolMinCouns that the 
Liberals had had a "change of heart" over Bill C-50, reflecting 
their inability to obtain any traction in the polls.  Conservative 
contacts believed that their second E.I. bill and the fiscal 
stimulus bill would be enough to keep NDP support into 2010 and 
give the government time to craft a spring budget before the next 
election. 
 
 
 
COMMENT 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) The surprisingly swift passage of C-50 reflects the 
tortuous line the Liberals have drawn for themselves in reflexively 
opposing the Conservative minority government while seeking to 
maintain advocacy for the unemployed.  The NDP won a tangible 
reward for its support and has an incentive to hold on for more. 
The Conservatives have given little away, but have responded 
quickly to public anxiety over premature exhaustion of jobless 
benefits, while reinforcing key messages in their Economic Action 
Plan.  In so doing, the Tories have also moved methodically to 
dismantle opposition arguments in favor of an election. 
JACOBSON