The Alberta Federation of Labour is calling for changes to the Employment Insurance Program following the latest jobless numbers.

The stats, which were released this morning, show Canada’s jobless rate stayed steady at 8.6 percent.

But here in Alberta it rose nearly half a percent to 7.2 and in Calgary it jumped from 6.6 to 6.9 percent. The AFL says only 40% of the Albertans applying for EI are actually receiving the cash they need.

AFL president Gil McGowan says the reason for the low eligibility is because of regional differences in the current system.

He adds it’s not fair that a person in Calgary and a person in Cape Breton aren’t getting the same help even though both have lost their jobs and both have put the same amount of money into the system.

660AM News, Calgary, Fri Aug 7 2009
Cormac MacSweeney and Kelly Turner