Edmonton needs to get equal EI benefits, food bank head says

The Edmonton Food Bank is calling on the federal government to reverse its decision to exclude the region from recent changes to employment insurance.

In February, the food bank provided hampers to 736 households where residentswere receiving or waiting for EI benefits, executive director Marjorie Bencz said Thursday.

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Since December, the food bank provided hampers tomore than 19,000 homes each month. That figure is 60 per cent higher than it was in December 2014.

Bencz said Edmonton needs the same level of support offered to every other community in Alberta.

"We're really concerned when governments make decisions that exclude the city of Edmonton or Edmonton and the surrounding areas because we do feel that there's been really a negative effect of the changes in the economy on Edmontonians," she said.

Last week, federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced that people in 12 zones across Canada hardest hit by the economic downturn will find it easier to qualify for EI benefits and receive them for a longer period of time.

Unemployment problem expected to get worse

Alberta claimants who qualify will get an additional five weeks of benefits. Long-tenured employees will receive 20 extra weeks of help. The benefits are also retroactive to January 2015.

However, the government saidEdmonton's employment rate wasn't as bad as the rest of the province so the changes didn't apply to the region.

The Edmonton zone also includes Leduc and Nisku,where many oil service industries are based.

Some people at a job fair in downtown Edmonton Thursday also weren'thappy with the federal government's decision.

Ming Zhunghas been receiving EI for the past three monthssince he was laid-offafter nine years of work at an engineering firm. He said he is disappointed with Edmonton's exclusion from the EI changes.

"It's crazy," he said, calling for the decision to be reversed.

Michael Enders was also at the job fair. The former camp clerk in northern Albertawas laid off in January. He didn't qualify for employment insurance because he didn't have the required hours.

"I don't think it was fair at all," he said. "I actually think it was a good slap in the face."

Enders said he is open to taking any kind of job in what he describes as a tough job market.He saidthe crowds at the job fair show what's really happening with the city's employment market.

"It shows that Edmonton is really hurting," Enderssaid. "The north is really hurting.Calgary, of course, is still hurting. All of Alberta is hurting. I think we should all be treated equally."

On Wednesday, Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci said the federal government was wrong to excludethe region when extending EI benefits. Hesaid Ottawa relied on outdated employment numbers when making the decision.

Bencz said she is concerned the problem will continue to get worse. She says more workers still start applying for EI when their severance payments run out.