Nova Scotia Premier Criticizes ‘EI Folks’ Comment by Liberal MP

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston responds to a question in Victoria, B.C., on July 12, 2022. Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston is calling for an apology from Liberal MP Jaime Battiste for his comment labelling Atlantic Canadians as “EI folks,” in a reference to collecting employment insurance benefits.

Battiste made the comment during a media conference in Nanaimo, B.C., on Sept. 9 in response to a reporter’s question about whether the Liberal Party was losing ground in Atlantic Canada.

“I don’t get that sense that we’re in trouble in the Atlantic,” Battiste responded. “I think that the Atlantic has typically been a progressive spot. It’s one of those places that are kind of meat-and-potato, fisheries, EI kind of folks that tell us how they think we’re doing. And from all indications that I’ve had, they don’t reflect what the polls show.”

Premier Houston said he was disappointed in the MP’s remarks.

“A characterization of Nova Scotians as ‘EI folks’ is obviously not acceptable and not representative and he should apologize for that,” Houston said in a video posted on platform X by the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia on Sept. 10.

Battiste responded to the criticism in a Sept. 10 post on X, saying his remarks had been “misinterpreted.”

“I understand that comments I made to the media yesterday have been misinterpreted, perhaps intentionally so, by some conservative voices,” he wrote in the post.

“In speaking, my effort was to convey that the key issues facing Atlantic Canadians are associated with fisheries and Employment Insurance.”

The Epoch Times reached out to Battiste’s office for further comment but did not hear back by publication time.

In subsequent social media posts, Battiste said his words had been misconstrued.

“Those that have attempted to twist my words on this matter either don’t understand or don’t care, about the issues facing our region,” he wrote.

He said he had been “hearing at the doorsteps” of the “hurt” Conservatives brought to Cape Breton when in power, including changes to EI and the closing of a Veterans Affairs office.

“People are afraid of what a Conservative government would do again if given the chance, and that’s what I meant to convey yesterday,” he wrote.

The MP was first elected to the Sydney-Victoria riding in Nova Scotia during the 2019 election.

His comments come after recent polls show the Conservatives gaining ground nationwide with 43 percent of decided voters saying they will vote Conservative. Twenty-one percent said they would support the Liberals and 19 percent said they would vote NDP. 

An August survey by Narrative Research indicated that 61 percent of Atlantic Canadians are not happy with Ottawa. That number is unchanged from February 2024.