Hello, Chair and members of Parliament. Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to talk to you about something that's very dear to my heart—EI sickness benefits.
My name is Kathy MacNaughton. My common-law husband, David Fraser, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer on December 3, 2014, his 50th birthday. Although we were devastated by this news, we were optimistic that we were going to beat this.
We went and applied for EI sickness benefits. Then we had consultations with our doctors in Halifax. We came up with a plan. The plan was that he would go through 25 rounds of radiation and two bouts of intense chemotherapy. Through a bottle attached to a PICC line, the medication would go through his body 24-7 for five days each time. After his treatment, he would have an operation where his diseased esophagus would be taken out and reattached to his stomach. Then he would recover.
David started his treatment on January 3, 2015. I continued to stay home, because he had a brother in Halifax who could look after him. I continued to work. David finished his treatment in the middle of February. He came home, and we were waiting for the surgeon to call to give him an appointment for the surgery. Two days later the surgeon called with more devastating news. David's cancer had spread to his liver and his aorta. He was deemed terminal. However, we could still continue treatment in New Glasgow, which would give him up to three years to live.
We went for treatment. I continued to work, because financially we needed me to. I changed my hours. I went from four o'clock in the morning until 12 o'clock in the afternoon so that I could be home with him to give him the medication and needles that he needed.
In the middle of March, his EI sickness benefits ran out. He said, “What are we going to do? How are we going to survive?”
I said, “Don't worry about it. You still have 30 weeks of regular EI. We'll go down and we'll talk to them. They have to help us.”
We went down to talk to them. There was nothing they could do. He wasn't allowed to draw that 30 weeks because he wasn't able to work. We were devastated. We got back in the car and I said, “David, I promise you that I will change this, because this is so wrong. You have 30 weeks of unemployment that you paid into and you're not allowed to draw it.”
He started his chemotherapy. We called disability pension, and we were offered $852 a month to help us financially. This was not enough, but there was nothing else we could do.
During the time when he was doing his chemotherapy, my sister Kelly wanted a laminate floor installed. David told me one day when I came home from work, “I'm going to install that floor for her.” I said, “David, you can't. You're not strong enough.” He said, “I have to. I have to help you financially so we can get through this.” I said, “Okay. We'll do it.” I went up with him. I carried the boards over to him and he cut them. He shimmied across that floor and he laid that laminate flooring. It broke my heart. He said it set him back physically a lot, but mentally it really helped, because he finally was able to contribute and help me pay the bills.
David passed away on August 4, 2015, eight months after his battle with esophagus cancer—one and a half months after he laid that floor.
I started David's Cause in September of 2015. I started off with Tim Houston, our local MLA. We had a change of government and he introduced me to Sean Fraser. Sean and I ran with this. We had to get my story out there because it was so wrong that people were worrying about financial situations when they were dying.
I worked with Canadian Cancer Society and finally, after seven years, my story was heard and my promise to David has been fulfilled. With the 2021-22 budget, EI sickness benefits will change from 15 weeks to 26 weeks. This is huge. This will help over 169,000 Canadians a year who are fighting a serious illness or injury.
My take-away to the panel today is this: Please don't view this as a political issue. View this as a humane and personal issue so that those 169,000 Canadians will not have to go through the financial worries that David went through while fighting for his life.
Thank you for your time.