Human Resources committee  I'm not clear if the question is on division 32 or on EI. Please go ahead.

Human Resources committee  The plan is to launch the tribunal at a later date that will be established by an order in council.

Human Resources committee  The risks that we can see are really associated with making sure that we're launching within reasonable timelines. We do not want to see the same challenges that the SST faced back in 2012, when they launched with big backlogs. We are establishing a process to ensure that we do not face that, by transitioning the BOA and the SST within a one-year period.

Human Resources committee  Certainly. The key proposed changes to the legislation include changes to other legislation as well—the Department of Employment and Social Development Act, the Federal Courts Act and the Employment Insurance Act. The big changes include, one, establishing the EI board of appeal to replace the Social Security Tribunal general division and EI section.

Human Resources committee  The decision on reporting was based on a need for accountability. It was recognized that under the former board of referees model the accountability was dispersed and vague and was to be strengthened moving forward. The direct reporting relationship of this position to the chair of the CEIC, of the commission, who is also the accounting officer for the commission, would ensure that one individual is ultimately responsible and accountable for both the funding and the day-to-day administration of the board of appeal.

Human Resources committee  The aim is indeed to simplify the language and access to information on the website.

Human Resources committee  I'm going to answer the question in English. During the 2017 third party review of the Social Security Tribunal and subsequent consultations with stakeholders, worker groups especially expressed a strong desire to return to regionally based tripartite decision-making panels for the first-level appeals.

Human Resources committee  Absolutely.

Human Resources committee  I would like to clarify that the model was originally thought of as a part-time appointment for all members. The difference is that the position of director of the appeal board and the six coordinator positions are full-time. The rest of the positions are part-time, according to the established model.

Human Resources committee  The short answer is clients will have both options.

Human Resources committee  By way of background, I would like to clarify that in budget 2019, the government committed to making it easier to navigate employment insurance programs to access benefits and to making programs more responsive to the needs of Canadians. The government also committed to a tripartite model to ensure that decisions made represent the groups it serves.

Human Resources committee  There have been many consultations so far. We will certainly provide the information from these consultations afterwards. I can tell you that the model that we have set out and that the government has promised meets exactly the needs that came out during the consultations. This includes the regional model.

Human Resources committee  There will be approximately 100 members from each group, that is, members of the Employment Insurance Commission, members who represent employers and members who represent employees, and these people will come from across Canada.

Human Resources committee  In 2012, the former tribunal was dissolved and the SST was created. Following that, in 2017 there was a review of the SST. It was decided that there was a need to improve the tribunal to make the first level of hearings easier to navigate and more responsive to the needs of Canadians, and to eliminate the legalistic approach to those hearings.

Human Resources committee  I'll turn that over to my colleague, Scott Patterson.