Moving on, let's move back to the report of the subcommittee. You all have this in front of you, and I'll just read through it quickly here:
Your Subcommittee met on Monday, February 22, 2016, to consider the business of the Committee and agreed to make the following recommendations:
1. That the Committee conduct, as its first priority, a study of the impact of recent reforms to the Employment Insurance Program and to Employment Insurance appeals; that the study include an examination of the current low rates of access to Employment Insurance and their causes; and that the Government provide an answer to the recommendations made by the Committee.
2. That, concerning the study of the impact of recent reforms to the Employment Insurance Program and to Employment Insurance appeals, the Committee hold a total of five (5) meetings which are to be divided as follows: One (1) meeting to receive a briefing from department officials; Three (3) meetings to hear from witnesses; and One (1) meeting for the consideration of a draft report.
3. That, concerning the study of the impact of recent reforms to the Employment Insurance Program and to Employment Insurance appeals, the total number of witnesses be divided among the recognized parties according to their standings in the House of Commons and that each party send a prioritized list of witnesses including their contact information to the Clerk of the Committee no later than Monday, February 29, 2016, at 4:00 p.m.
4. That the Committee conduct, as its second priority, a study of poverty reduction strategies currently in place across Canada; that the study focus on improving the delivery of federal resources and services for the Canadian Poverty Reduction Strategy; that the study be based on four main areas of implementation: Neighbourhoods ( eg. affordable housing and homeless shelters), Workforce (eg. skills training), Education, and Health; that special focus be put on improving services for our most vulnerable citizens: children, the disabled, people experiencing mental illness, and seniors living in poverty; that the Committee receive witnesses for sixteen (16) meetings; and that the Government provide an answer to the recommendations made by the Committee.
On the report from the subcommittee, are there any questions or comments?
There are a couple of comments from the clerk. It's just to note that meeting five regarding the consideration of the draft report, which is referred to in recommendation two, will not be right after meeting four since the analysts will need time to actually write that report. In recommendation three, in terms of the witness breakdown, there's a total of 24 witnesses, 14 from the Liberals, 7 from the Conservatives and 3 from the New Democratic Party.
Are there any questions or comments?
Mr. Zimmer.
