Good morning. I was asked to testify this morning. I am not here to elicit an emotional response from anyone by relating what I've been through. I will be giving you details that I've never discussed before, despite the fact that our case received a great deal of media coverage.
My daughter's disappearance had multiple impacts. When you lose a child, you set aside your career and everything else, just as you all would have done. It is likely that everyone sitting at this table would not know when they were going to return to work. That is a very important point, because the bill proposed by Ms. Bonsant and her team addresses that specific issue. You could say that despite my bad luck, I was luckier than others. I had group insurance and an employer who appreciated my work and therefore gave me the flexibility to return when I was ready.
When you discover that a loved one is missing and find yourself in the midst of this kind of ordeal, nothing else exists. You'd be prepared to give up your house, your salary, indeed, anything—except your relationship with your child. Unfortunately, that is the way you feel when something like this happens and I think it's healthy that way. The sad reality, however, is that you need to earn a living; everyone has to. A time comes when work becomes important. It's important to go back. You already are fighting so many battles and juggling so many different things that it is important to be able to go back. I was Claims Manager for an insurance company and an Insurance Adjuster. I put my career on the line because I became a public figure, and I have to deal with cases that are not always very pleasant.
Perhaps we can provide some help. I'm sure most people would not be able to go back to the same career after such an event. I had the advantage of being able to go back to work when I was ready. My employer was a group insurance company and I got the support I needed. I stopped working for two years to look after my daughter and had complete flexibility to return to work when I could. Earlier we were talking about self-employed workers. They're important as well. My spouse, who is not the mother of my children, was a hairdresser. Unfortunately, when you have clients, you have no choice but to go back to work if you don't want to lose what you've built up over the years. It is thanks to our loyal client base that we are able to earn a living.
When an incident like this occurs, you can set it aside for a while, but at the same time you need it. It's what helps you to keep going at some point. There is no doubt that when she had to go back to work, everyone was not necessarily getting the best haircut. She had to talk at length about what had happened. Every time she would relive the events all over again. It happened again, as recently as yesterday, when we checked into the hotel. People recognized me and were crying as they spoke to me. It goes on for a long time and you still have to live during those years. My daughter has not yet been found. This is going to be with me for the next 10 or 15 years if she still hasn't been found yet, and it will be part of our everyday lives until she is found.
I speak to you today as someone who has experienced this kind of tragedy. Earlier, mention was made of someone who might fall or hurt himself on a staircase as he was committing a crime. But the parents committed no crime. They might want to abandon everything to help their child, because he or she is their child. So, I encourage you to support this bill, because it is what helped me in part to move forward. It's as simple as that.
Mr. Laroche, you can probably confirm that everyone did not benefit from the kind of help that I received. There must be stories of the exact opposite situation.
Thank you.