Mr. Chair and members of the committee, thank you for the invitation to join you today in this very important conversation. I'm here today speaking in support of Evan's law.
My name is Megan Fockler and I work as the manager of the Pregnancy and Infant Loss—or PAIL—Network. I'm speaking today on behalf of Michelle LaFontaine, who is the director of PAIL Network. She was not able to be here today.
Prior to my work as the manager of PAIL Network, I worked as a registered nurse in obstetrics for 17 years, first as a labour and delivery nurse, and then as a nurse in high-risk obstetrics, supporting families through the experience of a high-risk pregnancy. In my nursing career, I have had the privilege of caring for families throughout their child-bearing years and the honour of walking alongside many as they face the most devastating outcome: the death of their infant. I've been in the room when their dreams for the future change in an instant. I've listened to them as they express the depth of their sadness. I've heard stories about the positive impact of compassion, as well as the negative impact of silence, stigma and bureaucracy on their grief journeys.
At PAIL Network, we provide education to health and service professionals focused on skilled and compassionate bereavement care. We have heard from hundreds of professionals that their biggest fear when caring for or working with families is making things worse through something they say, a resource they don't have to share or a discussion about a system barrier that they know the family must face.
Such barriers and bureaucracy impacted one of our PAIL Network volunteers, Kayla, who got a bill of over $4,000 at tax time for receiving benefits after her daughter Frankie died. My colleague Brandon faced barriers when he needed to navigate the system for EI sickness benefits after the death of his daughter Hannah, all while battling what he later learned was PTSD from the circumstances surrounding her death. Bureaucracy also impacted Carmen, another PAIL Network volunteer, when she needed to go in person to Service Canada to cancel her parental EI leave after her daughter Olivia died. Carmen said, “When you're in that kind of grief, dealing with administrative processes feels impossible... It's something no grieving parent should have to face.”
Evan's law is an opportunity to remove a barrier that we consistently hear is adding to the grief and burden of families. If passed, this bill would change a program process for the better. In addition, this bill would send a compassionate message to families that their loss, their baby and their well-being matter. Evan's law will allow people to focus on what matters around the time of their infant's death: honouring them, grieving within their family and community, and choosing for themselves when to return to work.
As the government begins this new program for families experiencing infant loss, I believe it will be very important to also think of the process for effective implementation and the funding required to develop the necessary resources and education surrounding policy changes and supports for families. PAIL Network has experience and expertise in these areas and is available to assist the government to scale up additional supports and resources. It would be very feasible to replicate the work of PAIL Network nationally, and there is a lot of appetite to do so.
The provision for funding would enhance the effectiveness of this bill and help to expand the training resources and tools needed to make sure families encounter compassionate responses from those they encounter along their grief journeys, and other supports to ensure they are not grieving alone. Compassion is a core value that I hold within my own professional practice, and it is so important for grieving families. Evan's law is compassion in action.
Thank you again for including me in this important conversation.