Friday June 5, 2009
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The Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC) today urged all four Parties in Parliament to work together to build a social safety net to help unemployed workers in this ailing economy. |
TORONTO. The Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC) today urged all four Parties in Parliament to work together to build a social safety net to help unemployed workers in this ailing economy.
Today’s Labour Force Survey http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/090605/dq090605a-eng.htm reports that Canada’s unemployment rate rose by 0.4% in May 2009 to 8.4%, the highest rate in 11 years; employment fell by 42,000 in one month (363,000 jobs lost since October 2008) and the numbers of unemployed stand at a staggering 1.55 million Canadians. “The economy situation continues to deteriorate and more help is needed for the unemployed and additional stimulus is needed to stem further job losses,” Victor Wong, CCNC Executive Director said today. “The Government needs to act now before the summer recess to expand the Employment Insurance system so that workers and their families can weather this severe recession.”
One under-reported detail is that the actual job numbers are much worse – the actual unemployment rate in May was 8.7% with the number of unemployed was 1.61 million Canadians (source: http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/pubs/lfs/lfsdata.pdf).
CCNC is calling for measures to help unemployed Canadians who do not meet the strict EI eligibility rules, to protect Canadians from the excessive real interest rates on their mortgages, loans and credit card debts and to increase its strategic investments in youth, affordable housing and the green economy.
Founded in 1980, CCNC is a national non-profit organization with 27 chapters across Canada and a community leader for Chinese Canadians in promoting a more just, respectful, and inclusive society. CCNC and allies are one of the co-recipients of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation’s 2008 Award of Excellence for its work on the Chinese Head Tax redress campaign.
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For more information or media interviews, please contact:
Victor Wong, Executive Director (416) 977-9871; national@ccnc.ca
- CCNC
