Last week the government announced new rules -- expected to be in effect by early next year -- that would lower benefits for each time someone dips into the system and also expect the unemployed to travel greater distances for a job of the same or less pay, if they qualify.
Doucet tells Tide News there are many from Charlotte County who are seasonal workers, such as people working in a fish plant, the forestry industry, or in tourism.
He wants to know if the government will be forcing people from Grand Manan to come to the mainland to search for minimum wage work, or if residents of Blacks Harbour will be expected to find work in Saint John at a MacDonald's or Tim Horton's.
Doucet is also wondering what will happen to the local companies who employ the seasonal workers. He says if we start losing seasonal workers to other jurisdictions, there will be no workers left when the seasonal companies are ready to re-open.
Doucet says he thinks the Employment Insurance system does need some tweaking -- but what works in Toronto or Halifax, might not work in Charlotte County.
He adds, somewhere along the line there needs to be common sense, and he hopes the government will take into consideration the lives that will be affected, and not go ahead with a "cookie cutter approach".
