Human Resources committee  It has been extremely hard on everyone. The whole notion of suitable employment, the notion of putting unemployed workers into categories and saying that some were more deserving than others, was entirely new. That wasn't part of the old program. As far as an unemployed worker's

Human Resources committee  As I said, the complete lack of income, known as the black hole, is a huge problem. In numerous regions in eastern Quebec, including Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, and in Atlantic Canada, people have absolutely no income once their EI benefits have run out until they return to se

Human Resources committee  That's what we are recommending.

Human Resources committee  Thank you. As far as the publication of the decisions is concerned, it's important to know that all board of referees and umpire decisions were made public at the time. You'd like to know why that's no longer the case. The previous government was trying to achieve efficiency. T

Human Resources committee  Thank you very much. In-person hearings are something claimants really appreciate having access to. When a claimant's case is being considered, their credibility plays a huge role. But telephone and video conference hearings make it difficult to establish a claimant's credibilit

Human Resources committee  It would suffice in order to qualify for EI benefits, yes.

Human Resources committee  That's correct. It may not actually be for an entire year, though.

Human Resources committee  The number of weeks would depend on what the person earned.

Human Resources committee  I'm sorry. What do you mean?

Human Resources committee  It doesn't mean the person would be eligible to receive 52 weeks of benefits. Other factors would determine how long the person would receive benefits for. We are asking for a minimum floor of 35 weeks of benefits. We think that would be a reasonable amount of time.

Human Resources committee  I'm not saying it's enough. It's actually an eligibility threshold. We believe that 350 hours or 13 weeks would constitute a reasonable eligibility threshold.

Human Resources committee  Exactly.

Human Resources committee  I'm not saying that there wasn't an impact, in practical terms. What I'm saying is few people were disqualified for refusing to accept employment.

Human Resources committee  No, not quite. In fact, we believe the provisions in the act and regulations may have been applied with less rigour than expected. Be that as it may, the substance of the legislation remains. Even though it hasn't done so thus far, should the Employment Insurance Commission wish

Human Resources committee  It's what the data shows. In actual fact—