Madam Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition signed by dozens of Manitoba residents. It calls for equal employment insurance benefits for adoptive parents. Under the current EI system, adoptive parents are given 35 weeks of paid leave followed by a further 15 of unpaid leave. Under the law, a biological mother is given both the first 35 weeks and the latter 15 weeks as paid leave.
Studies have shown that an additional 15 weeks of paid leave would help parents better support their adopted children and handle many of the specific issues they must face.
The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to support Bill C-413 which would amend the Employment Insurance Act and the Canada Labour Code to ensure that an adoptive parent would be entitled to the same number of weeks of paid leave as the biological mother of a newborn child.