Human Resources Committee on April 16th, 2026

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Committee members, the committee is back in session for the last hour. It's a very important hour of this committee's deliberations today: the consideration of clause-by-clause for Bill C-222.

I would like to welcome the sponsor of the bill, Honourable Terry Beech, MP. From the Department of Employment and Social Development, for any technical questions, we have Deanne Field, acting director general, workers and employers, Service Canada; Soojin Yu, senior director, labour program; Benoit Cadieux, executive director, employment insurance policy directorate; Magalie Brochu, manager, employment insurance policy directorate; and Sébastien St-Arnaud, manager, labour program.

Before starting clause-by-clause, I would like to make comments to the committee members as a whole.

As the name indicates, this is an examination of all the clauses in the order in which they appear in the bill. I will call each clause successively, and each clause is subject to debate and a vote. If there are amendments to the clause in question, I will recognize the member proposing it, who may explain it. The amendment will then be open for debate. When no further members wish to intervene, the amendment will be voted on. Amendments will be considered in the order in which they appear in the package each member received from the clerk.

In addition to having to be properly drafted in a legal sense, amendments must also be procedurally admissible. The chair may be called upon to rule amendments inadmissible if they go against the principle of the bill or beyond the scope of the bill—both of which were adopted by the House when it agreed to the bill at second reading—or if they offend the financial prerogative of the Crown.

During debate on an amendment, members are permitted to move subamendments. Only one subamendment may be considered at a time, and subamendments cannot be amended.

Once every clause has been voted on, the committee will vote on the title and the bill itself. An order to reprint the bill may be required if amendments are adopted so that the House has a proper copy for use at report stage.

Additionally, in preparation for today's clause-by-clause study of Bill C-222, I, the chair, have taken the opportunity to review the bill and the amendments that were submitted in advance of today's meeting. To help the committee decide how it wishes to proceed, I would like to share a few observations about the amendments.

Amendments G-1, G-2, G-3, G-5, G-6 and G-7 appear, in the chair's view, to require a royal recommendation. Paragraph 18.11 of House of Commons Procedure and Practice, fourth edition, states that such amendments are inadmissible in committee. Amendments requiring a royal recommendation should be placed on notice at report stage, together with the necessary royal recommendation.

Furthermore, amendments G-4 and G-8 do not, in the chair's view, appear to require a royal recommendation, but they do appear to be dependent upon the series of motions that do require a royal recommendation and should also be put on notice at report stage when the bill is reported to the House, following the review of the committee.

Amendments G-9, G-10 and G-11 do not, in the chair's view, require a royal recommendation and should be moved at committee.

With that, I will now begin.

Pursuant to Standing Order 75(1), consideration of the clause's short title is postponed.

We're on new clause 1.1, amendment G-1.

Ms. Koutrakis, do you wish to move new clause 1.1, G-1?

[Annie Koutrakis, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

I move G-1. I hope the members will vote in favour.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

G-1 references paragraph 23(2.1)(a), which is created—

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

I have a point of order.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can you clarify which amendments you've deemed in order and out of order, please? I'm a little confused at this point.

[Annie Koutrakis, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Do you wish to withdraw?

[Annie Koutrakis, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

I would like to withdraw, please.

(Amendment withdrawn)

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you.

Does that address your valid question?

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Yes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Okay.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Mr. Chair, I would still appreciate it if you could clarify which ones you've determined are in order and which amendments are out of order. That would be helpful.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

You're correct.

[Annie Koutrakis, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

On a point of order, Mr. Chair, can I ask for suspension of a couple of minutes, please?

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Yes. We'll suspend for two minutes. We need to get this right.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, committee members.

We'll take our time going through this to get it right.

Since there are amendments, I will give the opportunity to the mover to move or decline them. On new clause G-1, the mover declined to move and withdrew that.

We'll now move to new clause 1.2, amendment G-2.

Does the member wish to decline?

[Annie Koutrakis, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

We decline.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

G-2 has not been moved.

(On clause 2)

We're on clause 2 and amendment G-3.

Does the mover wish to decline?

[Annie Koutrakis, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

We decline.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Amendment G-3, on clause 2, has been declined, so clause 2 must carry as it's currently presented.

(Clause 2 agreed to)

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

If anybody has a question, please ask. We're going to take our time to get it right.

Ms. Larouche, do you have a question?

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Mr. Chair, I would just like some clarification, because I'm having a bit of trouble following.

Are you referring to clause 2 or the G‑2 amendment, which was withdrawn?

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Madame Larouche.

For the amendment numbers that I referenced in my opening statement, the mover, Ms. Koutrakis, had the option to move those or to indicate to the committee that she declined to move them. That's where we're at. We've dealt with amendments G-1, G-2 and G-3, and the mover declined to move them. That means, then, that clause 2 carried as it was.

Madame Larouche, go ahead.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

If we're talking about clause 2, I just want to remind everyone of an element of the bill we introduced, but that isn't taken up here. We'd previously proposed a bill to increase to 50 the number of weeks of EI sickness benefits, the Émilie Sansfaçon bill. We feel it's important to remember that, when it comes to an illness or the loss of a child, you can't predict how long it'll take to heal.

So we're going to adopt it, but I just want to remind everyone that it's important to think about the 50 weeks, because no one knows how long it can take to heal after cancer or the loss of a child. The witnesses we heard from did say it varies a great deal.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Ms. Larouche.

It's a valid point and it is noted.

We'll go to new clause 2.1. We have amendment G-4, which is in order. Do you wish to move amendment G-4?

Ms. Koutrakis, I'll ask if you wish to withdraw it.

[Annie Koutrakis, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

I wish to withdraw it.