Tory MP wants to end extra EI for convicts

A Conservative backbencher wants to change a law by which some former criminals can qualify for twice as much time on employment insurance as law-abiding Canadians get.

But opposition members say tightening the EI rules will lead to increased crime, as destitute convicts find themselves on skid row after serving their time.

Tory MP Dick Harris, who introduced the private member’s bill C-316, said it’s wrong that criminals get “preferential treatment.”

“It’s about the fact that a convict receives favourable treatment as opposed to someone who is law abiding,” he said. “Breaking the law is a choice … and this is about fairness.”

To qualify for EI benefits, a Canadian worker must have worked enough hours to qualify for benefits in the 52 weeks before their claim.

Those who qualify can then collect up to 52 weeks of EI payments.

Convicted criminals, however, can collect benefits for twice as long — up to 104 weeks — when they finish their sentence.

This special consideration for convicts was implemented in 1959. Similar extensions are given to some unemployed Canadians who are pregnant, ill or injured.

Harris said he discovered that ex-convicts were receiving special treatment while doing some work for a constituent, who had taken some time off work while sick with cancer. He found that she did not qualify for EI under the circumstances, he said, but that a former criminal would.

The bill is at committee stage, and will soon return to the House for third reading after a report is written following committee hearings.

At the human resources committee meeting Wednesday, opposition MPS warned that altering the law would likely drive up recidivism.