Thank you for having me.
That was incredibly powerful testimony that we just heard.
I'd like to thank you for that.
That is one of the many voices that this committee has allowed to be heard. I think it is important to start by emphasizing the fact that the committee has given all the necessary space to parents in its study of the bill, because bereaved parents are the primary stakeholders.
I'd like to begin by thanking all the parents who have come to testify over the past few weeks, as well as the organizations that directly defend their rights or provide them with support. They have also appeared here and will be appearing a little later today.
These include the organization Les Perséides, which provides support to bereaved parents and will testify a little later today. They also include other Montreal organizations, such as Le Phare, Children and Families, which is a pediatric palliative care centre that also offers Le Phare's Lantern, a bereavement support program. That wasn't part of the presentation, but I think it's important to point it out. Thank you again.
My name is Gabriel Pelletier. I'm not a bereaved parent. I am a labour lawyer specializing in employment insurance. I am a lecturer in labour law at the college level, and I co-authored an essay on family caregivers in Quebec and Canada. The essay, called La proche aidance au chevet d'un système malade: Plaidoyer pour un Québec qui renoue avec ses solidarités, calls for renewed solidarity in Quebec to fix a sick system for caregivers.
Today, I represent the Comité Chômage du Haut-Richelieu et du Suroît, which is an organization active in the Richelieu and Suroît regions that helps people having trouble with employment insurance by collectively defending their rights through legal education, representation and advice. I would also like to take the opportunity to highlight the exceptional work done by France Robert and Nadia Morais, respectively the director and counsel of the Comité Chômage du Haut-Richelieu et du Suroît.
I won't beat around the bush: The reason our organization is here today is the study of Bill C‑222, which is an excellent bill. It's a great idea. The bill has a noble objective. The needs are real. You just heard that. You've been hearing it for several weeks. The mechanism chosen to address the problem is the right one. We think it's a simple, elegant mechanism that will really help. We agree that the last thing a bereaved parent needs is to get a notice of debt from the Canada Revenue Agency in the mail and have to contact a public servant to notify them of the death of their child. It's inhumane. No one deserves that.
In Quebec, this situation is already partly governed by the Quebec parental insurance plan, which already provides for an extension of the weeks of maternity benefits. The mechanism is appreciated and the program works well. However, that doesn't mean that our group doesn't also witness similar situations with bereaved parents in Quebec. That is the main reason we wanted to come and meet with you, to support the bill. It's a great bill. However, we would like to invite you to go a little further to cover a few more bereaved parents. Let me explain.
Since 2003, the employment insurance program has provided a number of benefits that can be termed caregiver benefits. They include the compassionate care benefit, which was brought in under a Liberal government, the caregiver benefit for critically ill and injured children, which was brought in under a Conservative government, and the caregiver benefit for adults, which was brought in, again, under a Liberal government. Caregiving is therefore a non-partisan concern. Clearly, each of the parties, including the Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party, has played its role in this area.
Currently, a parent who receives a family caregiver benefit for a critically ill child or a compassionate care benefit that is reserved for a caregiver who accompanies and supports a loved one at the end of life experiences exactly the same reality as the bereaved parent of a newborn. They have the same problem. If someone receives caregiver benefits for a critically ill child or compassionate care benefits, and their child dies while receiving those benefits, it's the same thing. They have to call to apply for the sickness benefit, they have to say that their loved one is dead and they often have to repay a debt to the Canada Revenue Agency. Of course, no one is going to call them within 24 hours of the death, which would be absurd. These people are in exactly the same situation, and we think that with a very simple amendment, which we propose in our brief, we would be able to apply the mechanism of maternity and parental benefits for parents of bereaved newborns to all parents who receive caregiver benefits for a child under 18.
I use the word “parents”, but the benefits are open-ended. The mechanism would also apply to grandparents, uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters, who qualify for the benefits. We're talking about approximately 10,000 applications a year. That's 0.005% of total EI claims. Of the 10,000 people, not all of them would be eligible under the amendment. However, for those who are, the difference would be huge. It's a fraction of a drop in the bucket, but it's one step further. I think we owe that to bereaved parents.
Thank you.
I will be pleased to answer your questions in English or French, as required.