Is the social safety net 2.0 inherited from the last few months on the way to becoming sustainable? In The crisis and the social safety net. Why the right does not like PKU, the long-time activist Pierre Céré retraces the circumstances which saw the transformation at high speed of social programs considered until then too complex to be permanently reformed – here, the employment insurance system. As for the crisis itself, “we have to go back to the Great Depression of the 1930s or to the Spanish flu pandemic that swept the planet after the First World War to find an equivalent,” he underlines.
As the Omicron surge forces the activities of entire sectors of the economy to be reduced if not shut down, depriving many workers of income, some did not doubt the announcement of new government aid . With the generous measures adopted in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis as a precedent, it would have been surprising to see governments leaving so many people on the sidelines.
At the forefront of the conflagration of March 2020, Pierre Céré and his colleagues from the Montreal Chômage Committee saw employment insurance disintegrate before their eyes in the first days of the crisis: “Thousands of job losses , we quickly grew to hundreds of thousands and then to millions. Under the pressure, the system collapsed, technically and humanly. “
In just a few days, the federal government is implementing the now famous Canadian Emergency Benefit (CEP), which will benefit 8.9 million Canadians, or about 45% of the workforce, quickly patching up decades of hard work. neoliberal undermining. In addition to this direct assistance to citizens, many measures for businesses, such as the emergency wage subsidy, will be added.
A lack of solidarity
While it is obvious, from the very statements of successive governors of the Bank of Canada Stephen Poloz and Tiff Macklem, that this aid has helped to keep the economy afloat, in addition to alleviating the distress of millions of people facing a future. uncertain, the PCU found itself under group fire from the economic and political right just weeks after being established.
Led with full speed by the Premier of Quebec, François Legault, this charge was widely relayed by the media, until it became the dominant discourse. The press review produced by Pierre Céré testifies to the virulence of these attacks. “Even to this day, I sometimes hear about the“ cursed PCU ”, more than a year after the end of the measure,” adds the activist.
The service was criticized for being the source of the current labor shortage in the province. However, the PCU alone cannot be held responsible for an otherwise global phenomenon, which also has to do, in Quebec, with the cross influence of the aging of the population, strong economic growth and advances. robotization of work.
As for the myth of the lazy provider, it does not stand the test of the facts. For example, recipients of the Canada Economic Stimulus Benefit (CEP), which succeeded the CEP, took advantage on average of half of the periods for which they were eligible, or 24 out of 48 weeks. to quote Federal Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough, “people prefer work [aux prestations] “.
In the same vein, it is worth remembering that the weekly amount of government aid was modeled on the minimum wage, leaving little room for those who received it to enrich themselves unduly. That the PCU and the PCRE exerted pressure on the recruitment of day laborers and handlers speaks volumes about the conditions offered for these jobs.
In addition, it should be noted that the minimum income thresholds defined by federal emergency aid remain largely higher than the amounts of social aid. While the social safety net undergoes important transformations, these remain unchanged. However, “nobody can live with a check for 650 dollars a month”, recalls Pierre Céré.
Sunny roads?
While the PCU and the PCRE are now a thing of the past, what remains today of the spirit of solidarity that underpinned them? “The permanent overhaul of the employment insurance system, expected in spring 2021, has been postponed. However, many of the relaxations made during the crisis have been maintained, but on a temporary basis. “
Clearly stated in the mandate letter from the Minister of Employment, there is still the intention to extend the coverage of the plan to self-employment and on demand (Uber, DoorDash and company), taking note of the recent transformations of the world of work. “The proportion of workers who could be said to be ‘attached to their machine’, like my father was, is tending to decrease. Self-employment, which does not benefit from any protection, is now practiced by almost 15 per cent of the working population, ”the author explains.
By moving towards universality, will the broadening of the eligibility criteria for employment insurance pave the way for the adoption of a possible guaranteed minimum income? “Not necessarily, Pierre Céré risk. It is a dense debate. Several measures, which can be improved, offer income replacement solutions, depending on the type of “disaster”: illness, unemployment, etc. The establishment of a guaranteed minimum income for its part has its share of pitfalls, in particular that of being used as a pretext, according to the libertarian logic, to slash social programs. In this specific case, we would see a race to the bottom. That said, it is the idea of the dignity of all that must guide our reflections and our actions. “