issue 29// vol 46 life & style // no. 13

EI EI Ugh!

» Applying for EI was easy, getting to the
second round is damn near impossible

Craig Allan
Staff Writer

 

ike many Canadians, I have found

myself unemployed due to coronavirus.
Yes, | have my income from the paper, but
it’s not really enough. So, I had to sign up
for the Canadian Emergency Response
Benefit (CERB) payments. I originally did
it through Employment Insurance (EI),
applying a couple of days after I lost my
job. After some initial worries, I received
the first payment in April. Now though is
the time to sign up for the second month
of payments, and that is proving to bea
herculean effort.

Last week I started the process of
signing up for May’s payments. I did not
realize that I had to put in a bi-weekly
report if I signed up through EI, so I had
to go back to write in the results for mid-
March. They haven't yet approved the EI
report that I sent a week ago, and they've
suggested that I should call them.

So, I decided to call them. After going
through the opening messages, which you
cannot skip even though they just tell you
the same information, English or French,

 

emergency benefit plan blah, blah, blah,
you eventually get to the menu where

you can contact a representative. I press
zero, happy my EI nightmare is going to
end and... “due to high call volumes, we
are unable to take your call at this time—
please call back later.” When? When is the
best time to call back?! If the call volumes
are high now, they will never be low! Why
can't I send an email, leave a message, or
have EI do the intelligent thing and just
automatically approve my EI claim without
the struggle? Better yet, why can’t they
just allow everyone to sign up through the
CERB, which I have read is only asking

for a few things like personal info, social
insurance number, and confirmation you
meet the requirements?!

For this pandemic, I have been very
understanding of the imposition the
government is in. Even when I felt they
were being stubborn by introducing the
CERB and then only gradually changing
the rules of applying to include people
who were excluded from the program
initially. I was calm about it because |
know this is such an unprecedented event
in modern Canadian history, so I accept

 

Coronavirus di
(COVID-19)

that the government is going to stumble a
bit when it comes to the implementation
of things like this. However, my patience
is running out. People need to be able to

contact Service Canada for issues like this.

The lines should be going 24/7, especially
if the service offices are going to remain
closed. Speaking of the service offices,
they really should be reopened. If places
like Superstore and the Royal Bank can

pO apply for the CERB through either Service Canada or the

¢ Agency (CRA) ~ not both,

  

install plexiglass protectors, then so can
the government. If you don’t have enough
people to man the phones, then you need
to open up the service centres. People
like me are getting trapped with no other
options. We are getting close to May, and
I do not see any effort to make this better.
Either roll the EI into the CERB system or
make it easier.

Douglas’ Recipes for Douglas Students

>» Beef Pinwheels with Mash Potatoes and Maple Carrots

 

nN RL EI

 

 

David Douglas
Contributor

 

delicious and complex looking dish, this meal
is certainly dressed to impress any guest you
serve it to!

Ingredients:

+ kitchen twine

+ 2 beef flank steaks (thin)

+ tred bell pepper (cut into thin “sheets”)
* a handful of spinach leaves

* a few slices of your favourite cheese

Sides:
* 2 cups carrots (cubed)
+ 1/4 cup maple syrup
+ 2 tbs chives (chopped)
+ 2 large red potatoes (cubed)
* 1/4 cup cream
+ 1 tbs butter or margarine
+ salt and pepper to taste

All the hard work in this recipe resides in
the prep. Start by sterilizing a large space on your
countertop—this is going to get messy. Take two
pieces of kitchen twine (for the two beef flanks)
at 18 to 20 inches (45 cm to 50 cm) long and tape
the ends down parallel to your counter about one
inch (2.5 cm) apart. Lay your first flank steak on
the counter width-wise on the string, leaving four
or five inches sticking out on the left—as we will be

 

rolling them from the right. Lay the second flank
just overlapping the end of the first. Don't worry if
your flanks lay out longer than your string. Season
your flanks to your liking.

Simple salt and pepper will do the trick, but
feel free to use your favourite steak spice or smear
ona thin layer of BBQ or Teriyaki sauce. In thin
layers along the length of the flanks, lay down your
cheese, spinach, and red pepper sheets. From the
right side of your flanks, slowly and carefully begin
rolling the flanks up over the layers on top of itself
as tight as possible without all the ingredients

 
 

Photo by Morgan Hannah

squeezing out of the sides. Once rolled into a log,
remove the tape holding the strings and tie the
meat bundle together. Using a sharp knife, cut the
excess off the ends of the log—at least a1/2 inch
from the string. If all went well, you should have
two one-inch thick spirals of meat, cheese, and
veggies.

Ina pair of pots, boil the potato and carrot
cubes separately. Once the potatoes are soft and
ready to mash, drain both pots of water and begin
to heat up an oiled skillet on medium heat. Now,

I usually multitask here to get everything done
around the same time. If you do not think you can
complete the potatoes and carrots while frying

the pinwheels, finish the sides before moving on.
Carefully place the pinwheels in the hot pan and
return the drained carrots to the stove at a simmer.
While the beef sizzles, add the maple syrup to the
carrots and the cream and butter to the potatoes.
Stir the carrots in the maple sauce occasionally and
begin mashing the potatoes. Once the meat has
browned up to the strings and the bottoms have a
good sear on them, flip the pinwheels. Remove the
carrots from the heat and stir in the chopped chives
(if available, try adding some smoked paprika to
elevate the dish) and finish any mashing you have
left with the potatoes. Once the pinwheels have a
nice sear on both sides and the meat is cooked to
your desired temperature, serve and eat. Make sure
to not eat the string.

Photo by Billy Bui