Job grants likely to dip into EI pot

OTTAWA — As the federal and provincial governments hammer out a more “flexible” Canada Job Grant deal, questions are being raised about who will pay for all that socalled flexibility.

While the provinces have long complained that the signature piece of the federal government’s 2013 budget was effectively being “funded on the backs” of vulnerable workers, the solution appears to be to fund the grant on the backs of working Canadians who contribute to the employment insurance fund but will never benefit from the new program should they find themselves jobless and in need of retraining.

“Politicians at the federal and provincial levels have grown accustomed to milking EI as a cash cow for things that have nothing to do with employment insurance,” said Gregory Thomas of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “In the end, it’s working Canadians who are getting docked EI off every paycheque who are going to end up paying for this new training scheme.”

According to Brad Duguid, Ontario’s minister of training, a counter-proposal reached by the provinces Tuesday seeks to give them total control over where the $300 million earmarked for the job grant should come from, including the possibility that it all come from a $2 billion pot of EI premiums for training workers who qualify for employment insurance.

The job grant, however, is meant for people who haven’t paid into the fund and thus don’t qualify for EI benefits, including older workers, youth, new immigrants and people with disabilities.

The federal government has already acquiesced in part, indicating just before Christmas that it was prepared to dip into EI coffers to help cover a third of the job grant — $100 million.

The latest proposal from the provinces is expected to be delivered to Ottawa next week, but a spokesman for Employment Minister Jason Kenney said allowing the provinces to re-purpose EI funds makes some sense.