Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a)(i), as with any policy change, analysis is prepared as part of the cabinet decision-making process. These records are considered cabinet confidences. This is in addition to consultations conducted by the minister and parliamentary secretary. The overall effectiveness of employment insurance income benefits and active employment measures are assessed in the Canada Employment Insurance Commission’s employment insurance monitoring and assessment report, which is tabled annually in Parliament. As with any other EI measures, HRSDC will evaluate the connecting Canadians with available jobs initiative, introduced as part of Canada’s economic action plan 2012, and results will be reported in the monitoring and assessment report.
With regard to (a)(ii), it is projected that the social security tribunal, general division, employment insurance section, will be required to hear approximately 22,000 appeals each year and that the appeals division will be required to hear approximately 1,800 employment insurance-related appeals.
An approved HRSDC approach for human resources determination was used to arrive at the number of members required. This methodology takes into consideration the projected annual volume, as noted above; current caseloads and outputs by part-time member panels; working days in a year for a full-time member; and a productivity factor that allows for non-productive time for professional development, leave and other activities.
With regard to (b), as per the responses to (a)(i) and (a)(ii), this is not applicable.