President of the Canadian Labour Congress, Ken Georgetti, speaks before attending a House of Commons committee hearing presentation on Bill C-50 that would amend the Employment Insurance Act.

The Bill’s provisions are purported to extend benefits to long-tenured workers and help stabilize the local economies of many hard-hit communities. But Georgetti says that much more remains to be done. Only half of all unemployed workers qualify for EI, and the average weekly benefit is only about $50 a day before taxes, Georgetti says. Tens of thousands of unemployed workers have exhausted their benefits and will end up on provincial social assistance.