moved for leave to introduce Bill C-222, An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act and the Canada Labour Code (death of a child).
I rise today to introduce my private member's bill entitled the relieving grieving parents of an administrative burden act, also known as Evan's law.
Every year, 1,600 families in Canada have to deal with the death of a child while on parental leave. In this case, the family technically no longer qualifies for parental benefits, so unless they contact Service Canada that day, the family begins to accrue a liability that CRA will eventually have to claw back. They could switch to EI sickness benefits, but then they have to call Service Canada every two weeks to confirm that they still need the benefit because of the loss of their child. It is a cruel and unnecessary burden.
The bill provides an elegant solution. It simply states that if someone qualifies for parental leave and their child passes, they continue to qualify. There is no incremental increase in cost, because parental benefits are almost identical to the EI sickness benefit. In fact, there would be a cost savings, because we would be significantly reducing administrative costs and red tape. It is one of those rare measures that would not just help parents in the most tragic of circumstances but also would be relatively easy to implement. It is the right thing to do. It would reduce red tape and save the government money all at the same time.
I hope all members will support the legislation, and I invite my colleagues to come talk to me if they have any questions or comments.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)