UI surplus should be used for education

I would like to start by thanking Sheila Fraser, the Auditor General of Canada, for reminding me that we still have people in Ottawa willing to tell us what is really happening.

You have raised my hopes and fueled my interest, giving me a renewed feeling of importance as a Canadian citizen. I found myself wanting to know more.

As I hoped most Canadians would do, I went through the audit reports on the federal government’s web site. I was so excited when I read the report on Human Recourses Development Canada (HRDC) and discovered that this department had an excess of 43.8 billion dollars.

I’m a 30-year veteran of the workforce with aspirations of furthering my post-secondary education. So you can imagine my surprise when I read that the government was considering a new rate-setting process.

I don’t think that during a time when education and employment for all Canadians is in real need on government support, that Canadians will stand by and allow this government to give big corporations another tax break. I believe it’s time that business start paying their share for the education that they demand their prospective employees to have.

The problem is HRDC doesn’t recognize post-secondary education as a way of seeking employment. I quote from a letter my friend received saying “we have determined that, as you are in a training course of your own initiative, you have not proven your availability.”

How can anyone who wishes to pursue a professional career by going to school be considered unavailable to the workforce? Their value grows ten-fold with each year of education and every graduate reduces the possibility of him/her ever needing benefits again.

I would like to state a few facts that everyone should agree on:

* education is our ticket out of poverty;
* most post-secondary students live below the poverty level;
* the shortage of senior management, middle management, professional and paraprofessionals is at an all-time high;
* politicians, community leaders and educators are constantly reminding everyone that education is the key to success in today’s world.

Here’s my suggestion, which I feel would be beneficial to every aspect of our economy. I want our government to revise the Employment Insurance Act so that post-secondary education will be recognized as actively pursuing employment, and benefits can be collected for the duration of a student’s course of their choosing.

I am not suggesting that employment benefits replace post-secondary funding programs, but in fact work together to increase the student’s income, lowering the stress and increasing their chance of success.

My goal for writing this letter is to encourage the participation of every Canadian citizen in the decision-making process. Forty-four billion dollars translates to approximately $1,400 for every man, women and child in Canada.

We now know that our politicians need to be monitored very closely and, with an amount of this magnitude, I believe that it’s imperative that this matter be debated openly and on a national level.

In the 2003 federal budget, the government announced that it would consult on a new rate-setting process to be implemented for 2005, so there’s still time to have them listen to us ordinary citizens.

Speak up before it’s too late.

Richard Plamondon
Cambridge Bay