Madam Speaker, let me mention some of the other changes. The maximum benefit period for EI parental and maternity leave was increased, as the hon. member knows, from six months to a full year.
To ensure that claimants can accept lower paying jobs without reducing the benefit amount to which they are entitled, we made the small weeks provisions a permanent and national feature of the program. In addition, we increased the threshold from $150 to $225.
We also brought in the new six week compassionate care benefit. To help workers who experience an annual income gap, the government has implemented a two year pilot project providing five additional weeks of regular EI benefits to claimants in regions with very high unemployment rates.
We are reviewing with great interest the recommendations of the subcommittee on EI and we will report back to Parliament within the prescribed period of time.