Human Resources Committee on March 22nd, 2011

[Paul Thompson]

We are not responsible for that. The umpire, as I said, is an arm's-length organization that reports on its.... We don't have that.

[Maria Minna, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

If you could get that information, I'd like to see it.

[Paul Thompson]

There is some information on the volume of appeals in the monitoring and assessment report, which, as I said, will be coming out in the coming weeks.

[Maria Minna, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

Okay, but you have the information somewhere, so could you provide it to us?

[Paul Thompson]

The information for 2008-2009 is in the current monitoring and assessment report. The information for the following year will be in the forthcoming monitoring and assessment report on volumes of appeals to the umpire.

[Maria Minna, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

Does it also contain success numbers and all the data in terms of...?

[Paul Thompson]

I don't believe so.

[Maria Minna, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

That's what I want. That's what I'm interested in knowing--how many cases come in, how many are requested, and what percentage of success there is.

[Paul Thompson]

That's the purview of the umpire, a judicial....

[Maria Minna, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

That information could be public, though.

[The Chair, Conservative, Candice Bergen]

But the department doesn't have that.

[Maria Minna, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

No, but I think what he's saying is that even the monitoring and assessment report doesn't have it.

[Paul Thompson]

I don't believe the monitoring and assessment report reports on the outcomes, since it's not a responsibility of the commission. It's a judicial body, so it wouldn't be. However, the commission is aware of the number of decisions within its purview that go to the umpire.

[Maria Minna, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

I imagine the commission should know how many of the cases that go to the umpire actually are held up for the appellant.

Would you not have that information? I would suspect you'd be interested in it.

[Éric Giguère]

Do you mean the success level of the appellant, of the client appealing?

[Maria Minna, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

Yes, I mean the client.

[Paul Thompson]

It's in the range of 20%.

[Maria Minna, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

The success rate is about 20%.

[Paul Thompson]

Yes, it's about 20% of client appeals, which is similar, as I was indicating earlier, in the success rate of client appeals to the board of referees, which I said was 22% to 24% on average.

[Maria Minna, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

I see.

In your presentation, Mr. Thompson, you said something to the effect that the commission also has the responsibility to all the premium payers to ensure that the EI program is properly administered and protected and sustainable.

I found that strange. Wouldn't that be the responsibility of the commission or the government or someone else? Wouldn't your primary responsibility here be to protect the rights of the individual appealing, as opposed to worrying about whether you're protecting the system overall? It's an appeals process. I find that strange.

[Paul Thompson]

The commission has an overall responsibility for the administration of the EI program and the responsibility to premium payers for lawful and appropriate administration of the program. It's a dual responsibility in terms of the rights of the claimant as well as upholding the integrity of the--

[Maria Minna, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

I had one more question. Maybe somebody can pick it up.

[The Chair, Conservative, Candice Bergen]

Maybe.

I have a quick question. The referee board is made up of representatives of the employer, representatives of employees, and representatives of the commission. Is that correct?

[Paul Thompson]

There are three members on the board, and a Governor in Council appointee.

[The Chair, Conservative, Candice Bergen]

Sorry; I'm not talking about the umpire board now, but about the board of referees.