Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Nunavut for bringing this information to the attention of the House. The fact is that the improvements to maternity and parental benefits under employment insurance made almost one year ago have been a resounding success.
I can announce to this House that in excess of 200,000 Canadians received parental or maternity benefits in 2001. This is a 24% increase. For the benefit of this House, what is even more interesting to note is that 80% of those who received benefits were men.