NDP seeks concessions on EI bill

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One day after claiming victory for extracting employment insurance reforms from the Conservatives, New Democrats now say they've read the fine print and the government's latest bill is not the prize they had hoped.

The party will attempt to use the leverage it gained from offering to keep the government in power in exchange for the EI improvements to extract further concessions when the bill goes to a House of Commons committee. This will prolong a debate that the Liberals are attempting to move off the agenda.

The legislation is the only reason NDP leader Jack Layton has put forward for providing short-term support for the government in a confidence motion Friday on budgetary matters.

The Liberals Thursday attempted to have the bill fast-tracked into law, say that this would take away the NDP's rationale for propping up the minority Tories.

"We don't want to give Mr. Layton any alibis," Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said.

Behind the scenes, House leaders of all four parties in the Commons are busy negotiating how to handle the bill. The legislation will likely be put to its first vote Friday. All four parties are expected to vote in favour of sending it to a committee where MPs can hear from expert witnesses.

The legislation creates a temporary change to EI rules that would allow people who have worked a long time without claiming benefits to qualify for additional weeks of coverage.

But NDP MP Joe Comartin, whose Windsor, Ont., area riding includes many unemployed auto workers, said the government's bill - and the NDP's support - will be short lived unless the government agrees to NDP amendments.

"Unfortunately for communities like mine, the auto sector generally as well as forestry are going to be pretty extensively, if not completely excluded from being able to access the extended benefits under this bill," he said.

Mr. Comartin said the bill applies only to people who first applied for EI in 2009, leaving out those who lost their jobs at the start of the recession.

Peggy Nash, the president of the NDP who also works for the Canadian Auto Workers, agreed the bill must be changed.

"Is it enough? Absolutely not," she said in an interview.

The Conservatives are shifting their attention to reassembling a fall agenda now that the chances of an election this fall have subsided.

The Tories had put their fall legislative plans on ice in anticipation of a political campaign, but now have to decide which bills to move forward. They're considering, for instance, proceeding with promised legislation to reform the refugee system.

Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe said his party is against any fast-tracking of the EI bill, saying that it would not do enough for the hard-hit sectors of the Quebec economy as it currently stands. Mr. Duceppe raised the same concerns as the NDP, noting that many workers in the forestry sector, for example, would be ineligible for the additional coverage because they suffered temporary layoffs in recent years.

Mr. Duceppe said he wants the bill to undergo close scrutiny in committee and be amended.

"We're being asked to vote blindly, to pretend that we're in favour," Mr. Duceppe said of the Liberal attempt to move the bill forward. "We're refusing to play that game."

The Bloc has said it also will back the government in Friday's confidence vote, but is refusing to guarantee its support any further. Unlike the NDP, the Bloc has never boasted about the number of times that it has voted non-confidence in the Harper government in recent years. Instead, the Bloc has adopted the mantra that in a minority Parliament, it votes on a case-by-case basis, based on what is in Quebec's interests and regardless of the impact on the survival of the government.

Liberal MP Denis Coderre said the Liberals want the NDP's excuse for supporting the government to disappear as quickly as possible.

"The NDP don't want to help the jobless, they just want to avoid losing their own jobs," Mr. Coderre said.

With reports from Steven Chase and Jane Taber