On Jan 15th, the Quebec government called on the federal government to reverse these changes to EI and do an assessment of their impact before reinstating any changes. They are concerned about the downward pressure on wages, and increases in social assistance rates as unemployed workers are cut off benefits and have no available employment.
This response from the Quebec government follows a huge protest in Îles-de-la-Madeleine on January 13th, where over 4,000 people came out to protest the changes to Employment Insurance.
MPs from PEI are hearing broad concerns, and are tracking them so that they can be shared with Minister Finley.