Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada and the minister and I understand the distress experienced by anyone who has a family member with a serious illness, the sort of case described by my colleague. That is why we are committed to supporting working Canadians to ensure that they are not forced to choose between their jobs and caring for their family during a serious medical crisis.
It is for these very humanitarian reasons that the government introduced the compassionate care benefits program in the year 2004 to help Canadian workers faced by these situations, the program to which my colleague refers.
Research shows the vast majority of Canadians facing these types of crises are caring for a spouse, parent or child. These benefits ensure that eligible workers can take a temporary leave of absence from work to provide care or support for a gravely ill child, spouse or parent who are at a significant risk of death.
The six weeks of benefits can be shared among family members and can be taken consecutively, concurrently or one week at a time by family members over a 26 week period. This provides families with greater choice so that they will contribute to quality care of gravely ill Canadians.
The six week benefit was found to represent a balanced approach that would meet the needs of Canadian families and establish a sound foundation for the compassionate care benefits.
In determining an appropriate duration for the leave, a variety of evidence was examined, including medical evidence on the duration and cause of grave illnesses, as well as best practices in the public and private sectors.
However my colleague will be glad to know that an evaluation is being conducted in 2005-06 and part of this evaluation will include an assessment of the adequacy and scope of the benefits. As of December 31, 2004, 5,383 workers had filed a claim for compassionate care benefits, an average of 449 a month.
The Canada Labour Code and most provincial and territorial labour codes already provide job protection for workers in this type of situation. Even in those provinces that do not, workers can still receive the federal compassionate care benefit.
Employers recognize the importance of providing a balance between work and family. Of the firms surveyed on this question in 2001, 73% indicated that they did not have to change their practices or operations to accommodate the enhanced leave.
This is a relatively new benefit. It is too early to know if the initial pattern of demand will continue. As I said, we are working to ensure that Canadians are aware of the program. We will work in consultation with the health care community to ensure that patients and their families are aware of the compassionate care benefit, and aware that it is a resource that they can call on.
Evidence based analysis and ongoing monitoring and assessment will ensure the compassionate care benefit responds to the pressures faced by workers caring for a gravely ill family member, such as the tragic case mentioned by my colleague.