Well, in fact, we've been trying to bring various components of this bill forward for about five or six years now. Many times it was brought forward—maybe as a private member's bill or we were drafting it ourselves—and it fell off the order paper because we kept going into elections. This bill is one of the benefits of having a stable majority government. We're finally able to put it through.
In fact, I've worked on this with people in other parties over the years and certainly with some of my own caucus colleagues. I'm really pleased that we're finally able to bring this forward and get it through. In particular, my colleague Gord Brown tabled a private member's bill a few years ago. I was working with him on it then. Senator Boisvenu has been promoting the portion on the murdered or missing for quite some time. I want to thank them for their contributions.
In terms of suicide, no, that is not covered. While it is a terrible tragedy, there are other benefits available to parents who have to go through that terrible ordeal—for example, EI sickness benefits of up to 15 weeks. That can be not just for physical sickness, but also for mental and emotional illness. That leave is there to support them, to give them the time to grieve, and to deal with the situation. It's quite different from the judicial requirements of the murdered or missing children and quite different from the ongoing critical care of a child who's critically ill, but there are 15 weeks of sickness benefits there to help the parents get through that difficult time.