Good morning and thank you for giving me this opportunity to address you today.
My name is Denis Baribeau and I work as a volunteer at the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. I have the good fortune to be married and the father of two young adults, aged 18 and 21. I was born in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, where I still reside.
In 1982, shortly after graduating with a degree in civil engineering, and shortly before I was to be married, I experienced my first symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Because of diagnostic methods in use at the time, following my first episode, doctors could only assume that I had MS. Then a second episode occurred several years later, which confirmed the diagnosis. At the same time, I consider myself to be lucky because, although I regularly use a wheelchair, I am not affected by the extreme fatigability that afflicts many people with multiple sclerosis. In many cases, that fatigue prevents people from working, even part time.
Since I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, I have only missed five days of work—something which happened after a third episode left me partially paralyzed on my left side. But that does not mean it has been easy: I have had, and still have, to fight to keep my job and convince my superiors that I am still able to carry out my duties, even if they see me sitting in a wheelchair. At one point, I was very concerned that I would lose my job and, as I sought employment elsewhere, more than once I came up against people's prejudice. Even though my résumé interested potential employers, their vision radically changed when they saw me come in in a wheelchair. Even today, as an engineer by training who works as a technician, I am regularly invited to sit exams towards a promotion which I pass. And yet, when the time comes to fill positions that would be suitable for me, I am always ignored.
I am very happy to have been able to keep my job until now. You can believe me when I say that I don't see myself as a home husband. I am aware of the fact that many people don't have the opportunities that I have had. I regularly meet with people who have MS, who have lost their jobs and didn't have the energy to defend themselves. Now it is even more difficult for them to re-enter the workforce.
One of the recommendations being made by the MSSC is that people affected by multiple sclerosis or any other neurological disease receive support through more flexible employment insurance sickness benefits. We would like recipients to be able to retain their job attachment. That could be accomplished by allowing them to work part-time at the same time as they are receiving partial sickness benefits. The current regulations could be used to allow recipients to receive partial benefits while they are working part-time. That way, they could receive employment insurance for 150 half days, rather than 15 weeks, or 75 days, as is currently the case. Based on my own experience, the ability to retain one's job attachment would mean that a lot more people could go back to work, rather than having to give it up altogether. Making health insurance and employment insurance benefits more flexible is only one of many changes that are needed to support people with episodic or chronic illnesses or disabilities, to provide them with the income security they need. In our opinion, those changes could be implemented immediately.
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to address you today.