Finance Minister Jim Flaherty dismissed questions about boosting employment insurance benefits Sunday, saying Canadians want retraining programs to get them back to work rather than extended benefits.
Speaking on CTV's Question Period, Flaherty said that automatic stabilizers built into the EI system already ensure that more money goes to parts of the country that report higher unemployment rates.
But it's the job training agreements that the federal government recently signed with nine provinces that most help Canadians, Flaherty said.
"I think what Canadians are looking for is a system that works properly," Flaherty said. "It's not meant to be a system that keeps people on employment insurance. It's meant to be a system that encourages people to retrain so that they can support themselves with jobs."
On Friday, Human Resources Minister Diane Finley announced that the federal government signed new agreements with nine provinces that will provide funding for skills training for laid-off workers.
The money will also help workers who do not qualify for EI, Finley said.
The federal government recently also extended EI benefits by five weeks.
However, the opposition parties have been calling for further changes, including setting a national threshold of 360 paid hours of work for workers to be eligible for EI during the recession.
The current threshold, which varies by region, is between 420 and 910 hours of paid work.
Earlier this month, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff threatened that he would topple the Conservative government if it does not make further EI changes before Parliament rises in June.
"We're a minority government," Flaherty said Sunday. "That's up to the opposition parties if they want to have an election over an issue like that."
