Thank you.
Because I'm short on time, I'm going to approach this issue very factually, but I have to point out that I think it's very important when we're looking at an issue like this one that we approach it from a compassionate basis. That is critical.
You have given your remarks here, and I appreciate that your job is to provide us with information on what's available now, but I will tell you that some of the examples given are not adequate to meet the needs of most of the families who are suffering from loss.
In terms of the sickness benefits that you so rightly said “may” be available, I can certainly tell you many stories of parents who were not able to access sickness benefits for grief. There's a bereavement period of three days, which you're saying is going to be extended to five days, and it is certainly not adequate in almost all cases for people to be able to grieve the loss of a child. Also, the idea of working while on claim, although it may be helpful for those who have been able to qualify, certainly won't do anything for anyone who isn't able to qualify, and I've indicated that this is the case.
You also mentioned—and I appreciated it—that you want to try to do everything you can to make it as easy as possible for parents to be able to signal that this is the situation. What I would ask you is, what would be required in order to create a benefit that would be specific for bereavement leave for parents and to make that benefit happen automatically so that parents don't have to make numerous calls to Service Canada offices to explain the situation and tell their story and put themselves through that grief? You can appreciate that in this situation, letting Service Canada know what's going on is not the first thing on their minds.
How do we create a benefit that would apply for all parents in these situations? How do we make it so that it would be automatic and we wouldn't need parents to be thinking of that at a time when they shouldn't have to be?