Joe Ceci calls on federal Liberals to reverse Edmonton EI exclusion

Finance Minister Joe Ceci says the federal Liberals are wrong toexcludeEdmonton, Leduc and Niskufrom employment insurance changes that benefitworkers in the rest of Alberta.

"The right decision would have been to extend benefits to Edmonton and the area as well toNiksu and Leduc," Ceci told the CBC's Power and Politics host Rosemary Barton Wednesday.

"Everybody who drives up Highway 2 knows that Leduc and Nisku are prime oil sector communities and that those communities have been hard hit by the downturn," he said."So this is not the right decision and we'll continue to press the federal government to reverse this decision as quickly as they possibly can."

But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has been in Calgary and Edmonton the past two days,is stilldefendingthe decision to exclude Edmonton.

• Edmonton excluded from federal budget EI changes for Alberta

In an interview with CBC Edmonton AM host Mark Connolly Wednesday,Trudeausaid his government is keeping an eye on the situation.

But the government saysEdmonton was excluded because its jobless rate was slightly better than the rest of the province

"What we're doing is we're keeping an eye on the big picture and the details on the ground to try and make sure that we're helping everyone adequately,"Trudeausaid.

Trudeautold a news conference at the Mill Woods library in Edmonton thatchanges were made to EI benefits that help all Canadians, which includea reduction in waiting time from two to one weeks.New federal infrastructure fundingwill help all Canadiansas well, he said.

Last week, Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced people in 12 zones across Canada hardest hit by the economic downturn will find it easier to qualify for benefits and receive them for a longer period of time.

Ceci said the federal government was using old numbers when it made the decision to exclude Edmonton. Critics say the move alsodoesn't take into account job losses in the oil service sector in Nisku and Leduc.

When asked about this by Connolly, Trudeau said this is a reflection of how zones in the EI system work.

"The capacity for people to find new jobs within the zone that they actually live in does affect how easily people aregoing to be able to bounce back from an unexpected job loss," he said.

Trudeaurejected criticism that his government was picking winners and losers by only extending benefits to 12 zones across the country.

"We are applying the cold, hard mathematics.If there was politics brought into this, we might have made other choices," he said at the news conference. "We are making decisionsbased on evidence, not on popularity or political convenience."