Thanks, Chair.
With respect to our deliberations on Bill C-222, procedurally, if we want to expand the scope of the bill, we need the approval of the House in order to do so. I have drafted a motion that would request the approval of the House to do that. I want to note that this doesn't oblige us to adopt any amendments, but it would give the committee that option.
The motion reads:
That the committee report to the House its recommendation that, during its consideration of Bill C-222, An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act and the Canada Labour Code (death of a child), the committee be granted the power to expand the scope of the bill with a view to making provision for cases where a claimant in receipt of Employment Insurance parental benefits dies during the benefit period.
I'll move that now.
Again, that doesn't constrain the committee in its decisions. We have been clear that we don't want to move forward with amendments if those amendments will make a royal recommendation impossible. We want to work with the government on this. It's up to the government to decide, ultimately, whether to accept these amendments or not. This motion would simply give the committee the power to adopt those amendments.
I'm happy to suspend, if people want to look at this. I'm sorry. I honestly intended to give notice of this during the first part of the meeting. I got carried away. We would support a suspension.