Thank you, Ms. Dancho.
Clause 2 of Bill C-265 seeks to amend paragraph 12(3)(c) of the Employment Insurance Act, to increase from 15 to 50 the maximum number of weeks for which benefits may be paid because of illness, injury or quarantine. The amendment attempts to extend the benefits to 52 weeks.
House of Commons Procedure and Practice, third edition, states the following at page 772:
Since an amendment may not infringe upon the financial initiative of the Crown, it is inadmissible if it imposes a charge on the public treasury, or if it extends the objects or purposes or relaxes the conditions and qualifications specified in the royal recommendation.
In the opinion of the chair, the amendment proposes an extended period of benefits, which imposes a charge on the public treasury. Therefore, I rule the amendment inadmissible.
Madame Chabot.