Thank you very much.
I want to start with a question about the proposed changes to establish an EI board of appeal or a new way of doing that. One of the mentions in the bill says that the board of appeal wouldn't be able to consider any questions of a constitutional nature. Now, I know that earlier this year the tribunal issued a decision highlighting sex discrimination in the EI Act, particularly in regard to maternity leave provisions and the way they interact with eligibility for regular benefits.
I'm wondering if that exclusion in the act would, first of all, mean that the tribunal could no longer issue decisions like that, which lean on the Constitution to provide feedback about the overall EI system, and whether that could have any retroactive effect on decisions like the one from earlier this year.
I'd put that question to whomever the most appropriate official from the Department of Employment and Social Development would be.