Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Minister, for appearing today.
I want to start with some of the items in your mandate letter.
I agree that the modernizing of the employment insurance program could be more fair. My understanding of this program is that employees pay premiums. If they've worked enough hours, then when they lose their job, they receive that benefit.
However, my understanding is also that, in this pandemic, people who lost their jobs because they didn't want to take a vaccine were prevented from getting employment insurance, even though they had contributed to it and they had met the hour criteria.
Can you explain this?