I think it might be helpful to think of it less in terms of weeks and more in terms of days. Fifteen weeks is 75 working days, so as Julie mentioned, if you're missing one day of work per week but you're able to work the other four, having a system where your claim stays open and you can have coverage for that single day that you missed, or two or three days in a two-week period, that sort of thing, that would be a logical first step. The total number of days isn't actually greater than the current system, but you're able to take them in shorter amounts over a longer period of time.
I think for most people these conditions last years. Certainly having a longer term number of weeks over an extended period of time where there is no medical likelihood of remission, or in the case of epilepsy, where it could be a significant amount of time before someone is able to achieve seizure control through medication, I think that would be an important second step.
I'll also mention, in terms of medical coverage, one of the issues we're concerned about in Ontario. The provincial government recently announced that they're moving to align their definition of “disability” for the Ontario disability support program with the federal definition. Currently the Ontario definition is somewhat broader. For a condition that requires constant medication to manage seizures, even if seizures aren't fully controlled, the possibility of people not being able to enrol in that program because the definition is tightened, and losing the medical benefits that go along with it, is a very serious concern as well.