As we go into the new year, I have a humble suggestion for provincial first people to think about.
Instead of pulling out of CPP or the funding of the RCMP, why don’t we set up our own employment insurance system in the west?
I suspect that our premiums and payout rates would be much better than the national system. We could even use the saved money to pay for an enhanced pension plan for working people in western Canada.
Quebec has already pioneered the path of converting CPP to a provincial plan. Why don’t we take that an add Employment Insurance to the list of provincially run mandates?
This might be a good question for any person receiving a paycheck out here to think about as Ottawa scoops more money out of their pay packet net week in EI premiums.