Life on the move
This section Life on the Move is designed to address different topics around a rotational lifestyle. Within this section are the traditional issues of concern of the FSCA excluding the Spousal Employment Committee (SEC) which has its own section. The committees were initiated to address difficulties faced by FS families and to provide support by the FSCA through committee work. This provides an excellent opportunity for you to get involved, contact the FSCA office for more information. Some history of these issues can be found under the Reports and Survey section.
In addition there are support services currently provided by DFAIT that may assist you while in transition. Please look in this section, DFAIT Spousal/ Family Support for an overview of the latest departmental initiatives, tools and information available to spouses.
We hope to provide a place to share experiences and expertise; links to expat sites, tips around relocation and moving. Your input can help grow this section and keep it current. Please send any ideas to fsca.acse@international.gc.ca.
Senator Carstair’s Spousal Employment Insurance Bill S-203
Senator Carstairs was true to her word and re-introduced her spousal Employment Insurance Bill (formerly S-239) that would extend the eligibility period from 2 to 5 years and therefore enable rotational spouses to still receive EI upon repatriation from an overseas posting:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/40/1/parlbus/chambus/senate/deb-E/003db_2008-11-20-e.htm?Language=E&Parl=40&Ses=1#19
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/content/Senate/Bills/401/public/S-203/S-203_1/S-203tocE.htm
Senator Sharon Carstairs can be reached through the following link:
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/content/Senate/Bills/392/public/S-239/S-239_1/S-239tocE.htm
Contact your local MP to ask for support Bill C-218 and your inclusion in it as well as support for Bill S-203. Here is a sample letter to MPs.
Dear \MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT
Riding \REGION\
Date
My name is ___________ and I am writing you concerning Bill S-203 an Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act (foreign postings) submitted by Senator Sharon Carstairs earlier this year.
I am also writing to ask that you support Bill C-218 being put forward by MP Peter Stoffer.
Both of these Bills aim to correct long-standing inequities faced by spouses of Canada’s representatives posted overseas. Specifically, Bill S203 will change the length of time a spouse who accompanies a rotational government employee on a foreign posting has for claiming Employment Insurance, while Bill C-218 would allow spouses of rotational employees to benefit from an increase in the pension benefits they receive in the untimely passive of the employee to compensate for the many years of lost wages and lost pension contributions suffered while accompanying the employee abroad.
As a constituent in your riding, I ask for your support of these Bills.
I have accompanied my spouse abroad ______NUMBER______ of times to ____________NAME COUNTRIES______, each time returning to a greater challenge for finding employment.
During these times, I was not able to claim Employment Insurance because I had been away from Canada for more than two years, the current allowable time for claiming EI after stopping work. This was my situation upon every return despite the fact that I contributed my regular EI premiums while working in Canada prior to leaving on posting. During the time of these postings outside Canada I have also not been able to contribute to my own pension fund or accumulate pensionable hours of work.
The difficult decision to accompany a spouse who is one of the many rotational employees at DFAIT, CIDA, or CIC to a posting overseas is not a voluntary decision to leave the Canadian workforce.
While abroad we work hard to represent Canada and ensure that our families survive moves around the world. For prisoners in Canadian jails, current legislation extends the allowable period for claiming EI beyond the time of their incarceration. We feel the same allowance is owed to spouses who accompany their rotational employee partners on postings abroad as representatives of Canada. We also feel that although the losses to our own pension are far greater that the 17% increase proposed by BILL C-218, it would still be an improvement on the current situation.
My ineligibility to claim EI is only one of a number of systemic injustices suffered by rotational spouses, but one so basic that Senator Carstairs agreed it was too big to be ignored. The Foreign Service Community Association (FSCA), the only entity that works to voice and defend the rights of rotational employee spouses, has worked closely with Senator Carstairs to have this Bill brought forward.
As a member of this community and of your riding I ask you to please vote in favour of Bill S-203 as well as Bill C-218 which MP Stoffer is proposing.
Thanking you in advance for your support.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME
STREET ADDRESS
POSTAL CODE