Moving back to single E.I. zone would hurt rural P.E.I., says Egmont MP

One of the four Island Liberals who in 2015 pledged to reverse changes made to the employment insurance program by the Stephen Harper Conservatives now says one of those changes should remain as is.

• Charlottetown MLA pushes Ottawa for E.I. zoning change

Changing P.E.I. back into a single zone for determining eligibility for employment insurance would hurt residents in rural parts of the province, saysEgmontMP Bobby Morrissey.

"If Prince Edward Island went to one zone tomorrow, rural Prince Edward Island would lose $8 million in E.I. benefits," Morrissey said.

"That is something that, no, I cannot support."

During the 2015 election campaign, Morrissey arranged for all four Island Liberal candidates to meet on his home turf in Summerside, P.E.I., where they jointly pledged to reverse changes made to E.I. under the Conservatives including the splitting of P.E.I. into two separate economic regions.

Morrissey's Egmont riding is the only one of the Island's four ridings that exists entirely within the "rural" E.I. zone.

'Simply more job opportunities'

Because the unemployment rate in that region is higher than in the region centred in Charlottetown, workers in the rural zone are required to work fewer hours to qualify for regular E.I. benefits, and they receive more weeks of benefits that workers in the Charlottetown zone.

"The strongest job employment prospects are in Charlottetown," Morrissey said Tuesday.

"There's a significant difference to an individual who's unemployed that's living in Miminegash or in Souris or in Murray River than there is in downtown Charlottetown. There's simply more job opportunities there, and that's what the zones reflect."

But other Island politicians,including provincial MLA Richard Brown who represents the district of Charlottetown-Victoria Park, have argued the two zones treat Islanders unfairly.

"It's people literally living across the street from each other, and are in different zones, work at the same plant in Charlottetown, or the same company in Charlottetown, and two of them are being treated differently."

Brown met with officials in Ottawa last week looking for ways to speed up the process of switching P.E.I back to a single zone.

Brown said he was told a review of all 62 E.I. regions across the country is now underway, and could take up to 18 more months to complete.

A report from a parliamentary standing committee last year recommended the two zones be changed back into one.

'No decisions have been made'

Charlottetown MP Sean Casey also is eager to see the change back to one zone.

"There have been no local issues in this Parliament that have consumed more of my time and effort than this one, so I'll be honest with you, I'm frustrated that it's not done yet," Casey said Monday.

"People elected us based on that commitment."

An email to CBC News from Employment and Social Development Canada stated a review of E.I. boundaries is required every five years.

"As the current boundary review process is still underway, no decisions have been made regarding changes to the 62 EI economic regions," the email stated.

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