Both Parents of Twins Entitled to EI Benefits

   There was an interesting Board of Referees decision last week involving a claim by parents of twins for unemployment insurance benefits.  The Globe and Mail did a front page story on it this morning.  That itself is unusual, since nobody  pays much attention to Board of Referee decisions, except the claimants  of course.  The decision may be appealed to the next level in the system (the “Umpire”, who is a federal court judge) by the Commission.  (If you want to search Board of Referee decisions (“CUBS”), or look at an index of cases, look here)
The Board of Referees decision is quite well reasoned, which is  not always the case in Board decisions in my experience.  Here’s the issue. The parents had twins.  The mother filed an EI claim for one child, and the father for the other child.  The EI Commission denied the claim for the father, ruling that only one parent receive the benefit at a time, to a maximum claim of 35 weeks total per couple.  Since the mother was already receiving benefits for the children, the father was not permitted to simultaneously claim benefits.
The father appealed successfully to the Board of Referees.  The Board noted that the pregnancy and the post-birth period had been extremely difficult for the parents, and that caring for both children (and herself) proved too onerous for the mother alone.  The key provision is Section 12 of the Employment Insurance Act.  The Board rejected the argument that the language  in that section provides for benefits only to one parent in the case of twins.  Rather, according to the Board, it provides that an eligible claimant (both parents were eligible) can claim up to 35 weeks for the care of a child.  Since both eligible parents were caring for different children, both claims could proceed at the same time.  Insofar as there may be ambiguity in the language on this point, the Board noted (correctly) that since the EI Act is intended to provide a social benefit, it should be interpreted liberally in favour of the claimants.  The result is that parents of twins are eligible to receive up to the maximum claim of 35 weeks EI benefits.   
Does anyone think this decision is wrong, either legally or as a principle of social policy?