EI 101

>>

by Craig Segal

Low-income students dreading the return to a life of bare refrigerators and zero entertainment may be eligible for financial relief after all.

It's a myth that students can't collect employment insurance while they study, says Richard Benoît, who worked for Employment Insurance Canada for 25 years and now councils EI seekers. "If a student goes to the EI centre the agent will ask them if they are following courses on a full-time basis. If the answer is yes, they tell them right away they are not entitled to EI. Hold on there. If the student worked while attending full-time courses, he is entitled to benefits." Benoît says students simply don't know the law, and many languish in abject poverty unnecessarily. "The law isn't for the people," Benoît adds. "It's against the people."

Martin Richard of Movement Action Chômage agrees. "A lot of people don't know the rules," says Richard, who encourages students to attend their free two-hour seminar. He says students who quit work to return to school, especially for non-technical degrees, are the least likely to get any sympathy or money. According to him, the EI Board believes wanting to study philosophy or journalism is "not a good enough reason to receive EI. But if someone gets help preparing their file for an EI application, they won't need us afterward."

Call Richard Benoît at (450) 581-8830, or Action Chômage at 271-4099 for info.