Data released today by Statistics Canada shows that there are 54 percent more beneficiaries of Employment Insurance in Ottawa than there were one year ago.
The number is troubling and curious considering that the unemployment rate has risen by less than 1 percent during the same period.
The discrepancy speaks to an unfavourable job market and pessimism among the city's unemployed labour force which stood at over 35,000 in September. Of that number, nearly 7,000 receive federal EI payments.
As the number of payments rise, unemployed workers can now also count on receiving benefits for a longer period of time thanks to a recently passed federal bill that could extend payments by up to 20 weeks.
The Conservative government bill (C-50) produced following a series of typically Conservative partisan stunts this past summer, was a compromised version of what the Ignatieff Liberals originally sought, leading the Grits to vote against the proposed changes. The NDP supported the diluted bill, despite their desire to see more aid for the unemployed included.
The sudden transformation of the NDP from staunch government opposition to reluctant government ally has led to a flurry of taunts from the Liberals, whose brief turn as the bully did not jive with public opinion. The result has been a crippled opposition with little claim to sincerity from either progressive party. Both the Liberals and and the NDP have shown their opportunist slip recently and it will take time to convince the public that any outrage or cooperation is anything more than political posturing.
Back on the ground in Ottawa, while politicians jockey for position, the thousands of unemployed workers will continue to scrape by until the job market catches up with the booming stock market. Economists agree that there is usually a lag time of 12 to 18 months between these two trends.
Ottawa residents can take solace in the fact that among Ontario cities, the area is faring relatively well. Compared to the hard-hit auto communities of Southwestern Ontario like Kitchener, Chatham and Hamilton, where EI claims are up over 100 percent, Ottawa is in good shape and should see EI claims decrease during the next year.
It is comforting to know that the EI changes produced by Parliament will provide extra relief for Ottawa's unfortunate workers. It is not comforting, however, to know that this half-decent result was a convenient bonus for our elected officials who were otherwise engaged in their boring, ugly and shameful quest for self-promotion.
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