Good morning, everybody.
Pursuant to the order of reference of Wednesday, October 26, 2016, the committee is commencing consideration of Bill C-243, an act respecting the development of a national maternity assistance program strategy and amending the Employment Insurance Act (maternity benefits).
Welcome, Mr. Gerretsen. Thank you for being here. We are going to jump right into it. We'll give you 10 minutes to speak, and then we'll follow that up with questions until noon, when we will suspend for a few moments.
Then we'll come back and meet with Employment and Social Development Canada, specifically Mr. Andrew Brown, who I believe is already here. Hello. We'll give Mr. Brown 10 minutes, with a series of questions for the rest of that hour.
Just before we get started, I want to welcome MP Pam Damoff to our committee. Thank you for filling in for Mr. Long.
Mr. Gerretsen, the next 10 minutes is yours, sir.