Line-ups extend out the door for people waiting to sign up for employment insurance

Although most of the mall is a ghost town, the Service Canada office at the Market Mall continuously has more than 25 people lined up out the door waiting to get their Employment Insurance (EI) started amidst all the COVID-19 business closures.

“I just want to find out how to handle shutdown whether it’s for my staff or for myself for my business, I just need some answers,” said Paulette Schumacher, owner of Merle Norman Cosmetics in Saskatoon.

“It’s a scary time but keeping it in perspective I think it is better to keep everybody healthy and safe and we will do what we can to do that and I think it’s to keep the stress out of the situation and just take it a day at a time.”

Schumacher’s business hasn’t fully closed yet but they have cut off all services except for product pick-ups. She says they will also start taking phone orders that she will deliver to customers within the city limits free of charge.

While most are there for coronavirus-related reasons, some, like Earl Ghostkeeper, were taking care of regular business and were unlucky enough to be stuck in the middle of the EI spike.

“I just couldn’t navigate the site online so I had to come here that’s all. My job was just straight forward. I was working out at Swift Current and the job just ended,” he said.

“It’s unfortunate, I’m just stuck in line.”

However, Ghostkeeper says despite the potentially vexing look of the line that extends halfway down the hallway due to people practicing social distancing, the wait times haven’t been too bad. He was one spot away from the door and said he had only been in line for about 20 minutes.