Thank you for inviting the Canadian Paediatric Society to present to you today.
I'm Marie Adèle Davis, the executive director. I'm pleased to address you on behalf of more than 3,000 pediatric specialists and subspecialists who are our members from across Canada.
CPS members represent the physicians who are caring for the children, youth, and their families who will benefit from the changes proposed in Bill C-44. We applaud the Canadian government for understanding the particular challenges faced by parents of gravely ill children, the need for them to be at the child's bedside in the hospital, their ability to stay home and care for their recently discharged child, and the necessity for parents to be available to make health care decisions on behalf of their child throughout the illness. Further, the proposed legislation recognizes the emotional stress of having a child afflicted by cancer, severely injured in a life-threatening situation, or at the end stage of an incurable genetic disorder.
Like the Canadian Cancer Society, CPS also supports that flexibility be built into the legislation, that it recognize that the parents of a gravely ill child may not be taking all the leave at any one time in a given 52-week period. Given the resilience of kids, even those facing a life-threatening illness, they may be able to return to normal life for periods of time, attending school and other activities. The fact that Bill C-44 would allow parents to re-apply for the benefit, should the child have a serious relapse, is also practical. We also fully support that the benefit can be shared between parents, ensuring that both can be fully involved in the care of their gravely ill child.
The Canadian Pediatric Society can work with the Canadian government to ensure the smooth implementation of Bill C-44.
Since our members make up the majority of physicians who will fill out forms for families, we would like to help design the forms, to ensure their ease of use. The forms must be created by taking child and youth health into consideration, and not just by modifying forms designed for adults' health care needs. We think that, if a family-oriented form is designed, the benefit application process will be much smoother and red tape will be reduced.
It's important to remember that physicians caring for gravely ill children are extremely busy. We want to make sure that they devote their time to families rather than to paperwork and the appeal process.
CPS would also welcome the opportunity to refine the definition of gravely ill, to make it as workable as possible for family pediatricians and the federal employees managing the program. Under the compassionate care benefit, the definition criterion was that death was expected within six months. This is very hard for pediatric specialists to predict. Children are amazingly resilient and can beat seemingly insurmountable odds at various times during a critical illness. So it is very difficult to predict death with any certainty.
Further, the whole practice of pediatrics is based on hope for the future. Pediatricians work hand in hand with the family to ensure that kids have the best possible chance at life. To deliver a diagnosis of certain death within six months is just not something a pediatric specialist can do or will do, as it takes away from the hope that is critical to working towards a positive outcome.
In closing, the Canadian Paediatric Society is very supportive of the changes proposed in Bill C-44. We do encourage the government to work closely with us to ensure the smooth implementation of the bill and to realize all its potential to support the parents of gravely ill children and youth.
Thank you.