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On Monday, Mihychuk and the Liberals were repeatedly pressed in the House of Commons to come up with some immediate reforms to the employment insurance system to help recently laid off Canadians, especially those in an energy sector that has been devastated by stubbornly low commodity prices.

Asked specifically about what concrete changes the government will make to the accessibility, level and duration of EI benefits, the minister stressed that some reforms will soon be announced, with a broader overhaul of the system also in the works.

“There is no doubt in this House that the employment insurance system needs modernizing. This was a commitment of our election promise. We are in the process of doing so. We will soon see immediate changes to parts of the EI system and longer-term systemic changes in the years coming up,” Mihychuk said in the Commons.

Alberta has been particularly hard hit, with the focus now on what the government might be able to do in the short-term to help Wild Rose Country.

The province’s employment rate was seven per cent in December — way up from 4.8 per cent a year earlier. Alberta lost 19,600 jobs in 2015, its single-worst year since the 1982 recession.

Saskatchewan NDP MP Erin Weir said Monday resource workers and their families “need real assistance now,” and insisted the system is “broken” following nearly a decade of Conservative rule.

Most Canadians need to have worked between 420 and 700 hours in the past 52 weeks to qualify for employment insurance benefits. The number of insurable hours required to qualify for benefits depends on the unemployment rate in any given region of the country.