Human Resources committee  That's the purview of the umpire, a judicial....

Human Resources committee  I don't believe the monitoring and assessment report reports on the outcomes, since it's not a responsibility of the commission. It's a judicial body, so it wouldn't be. However, the commission is aware of the number of decisions within its purview that go to the umpire.

Human Resources committee  We have fairly generous provisions that allow a hearing to be delayed if there are circumstances there. Éric, do you want to speak to any of the specific circumstances around which a hearing would be delayed?

Human Resources committee  We have the hearings scheduled in the board centres for a number of reasons. There is definitely a cost factor, but there is also a privacy factor. This is confidential client information, and there are system requirements to protect that information. It's a secure facility that

Human Resources committee  I'm not here to speak to the appointments process, and it wouldn't be within my purview to do that. I would just highlight, though, that the board of referees is a layperson panel, whereas the umpires are an arm's-length judicial tribunal of people who are former judges from the

Human Resources committee  They are former judges of the different levels of court--county, provincial, or federal.

Human Resources committee  Generally they are.

Human Resources committee  There are a limited number of situations where hearings are recorded. Perhaps Mr. Giguère could tell us about this. I am not aware of these situations.

Human Resources committee  I would simply say that this factor would be taken into consideration when the mandate of an arbitrator comes up for renewal.

Human Resources committee  Yes.

Human Resources committee  We have service standards for supporting the hearings. It is the department's role to prepare the dockets or the files so that the board can arrive at its decision, so it's the department's role to enable the board to actually hold the hearing. That is a role that the department

Human Resources committee  I think that you are referring to the initial decision of the commission on eligibility to benefits.

Human Resources committee  We have guidelines to support the decision-making of frontline workers.

Human Resources committee  I don't know exactly what guidelines you...

Human Resources committee  Perhaps my colleague Mr. Giguère could do so.