…by adding maternal leave, challenged as provincial jurisdiction by Quebec, and now compassionate leave, politicians of varying stripes have tried to turn the EI system into a giant federal catch-all for social issues.
It needs to stop.
Not only does is it wrong constitutionally but it is wrong economically. If any of these bills to vastly expand the system on compassionate grounds ever passes – and since all three opposition parties support them now you can assume they would support them in power – it would require a massive hike in the EI payroll tax, a hike that would kill more jobs than this last recession.
