NDP Leader Mulcair says EI crackdown is a Conservative political game
OTTAWA - NDP Leader Tom Mulcair says the federal government's crackdown on employment insurance claimants is a political game that creates a presumption of guilt.
The crackdown includes sending government inspectors to people's homes and establishing annual dollar targets for EI investigators to uncover fraud.
Mulcair says the government is trying to blame the victims.
He says people who have paid into the system deserve to collect their benefits.
Human Resources Minister Diane Finley has vigorously denied that the fraud targets amount to quotas.
Mulcair dismisses her claims.
"We've had our quota of the lying by the minister responsible for this file," he said at a morning news conference.
"We want Harper and his thugs to stop attacking the jobless."
