Mr. Speaker, it is always wonderful to see you in the chair, especially when we are talking about issues that really matter to constituents, because I know how much you care about these issues.
Today I will be speaking to Motion No. 201. It is looking at an extension of employment insurance benefits for sickness. This is an important study, and I am very excited to see this motion put forward.
As a constituency consultant for 11 years, I dealt many times with constituents who, unfortunately, had exhausted their employment insurance sickness benefits. What I found many times was that there was a large gap between the time they applied for employment insurance and the Canada pension plan disability. The Canada pension plan, in many cases, would start at usually four months. However, many people did not understand that they might be off for that period of time.
Being able to have this study would be fantastic, because it would give us, as members of Parliament, time to look at some of these key issues. Today I will be discussing some of the things that are important, including why we need to study this as well as some of the costing. It needs to be looked at through two prongs.
I would like to thank the member for Sydney—Victoria for putting this forward. I know that this was debated in the House in 2011 and 2012, but since that period of time, we have seen a large increase in the number of people in Canada taking employment insurance sickness benefits. For 38.9% of people who have been on EI benefits for sickness, their benefits have been exhausted.
Over this time, I have also had the honour to serve as the Conservative shadow minister for families, children and social development. I have had the opportunity to meet with many different organizations, not-for-profits and health organizations that come to us to discuss the needs of their patients and the clients they are representing.
One that comes to mind is the MS Society. For a number of years, we have talked about some of the issues patients have had to consider. A lot of times, the symptoms are episodic. Although this employment insurance study may be looking at whether we should be extending the benefits, we also will have the opportunity to discuss more than that. This motion is looking at extending EI benefits to up to 50 weeks for sickness. Within this conversation, we would be able to discuss some of the things that are needed for people who have MS, who have cancer and who have hip replacements and knee replacements.
Because of that, last night I looked over some of the rehabilitation times. I was looking at what happens if someone has a hip replacement or a knee replacement. What is the opportunity to return to work? The average time is four to six weeks before people can return to a desk job, and sometimes it is much longer. We also have to understand that some people are not able to return to work at a desk job. For instance, for truck drivers who have to get in and out and people working on a farm or in food processing or anything that is physically straining, the opportunity to take more time off is not just a necessity but is doctor's orders. A lot of times patients are told that they have to take up to six months off. Within the first 15 weeks, people would only be able to receive sickness benefits. Unfortunately, at that time, there would be nothing else.
Many people would wonder at that time if they could apply for Canada pension plan disability. For Canada pension plan disability, people need to be deemed unable to work, and that has to be over a one-year period. If someone tells his or her employer that he or she is sick, has been hurt or has a broken bone and will not be able to return to work for eight months, the Canada pension plan is not going to be an option. Sometimes sick benefits would be the only option for those people.
There are many things we also need to look at. It cannot just be government benefits. We also have to recognize that there are short-term and long-term disability plans that are available through private planners. Through the workplace, there are also many other pensions available. A lot of the time these benefits will work in conjunction with each other.
It is very important that we look at why this needs to be studied. The last time this was changed from 15 weeks was in 1971, and I believe that is probably when it was introduced as EI benefits for sick benefits, so it has been 15 weeks since 1971. Being 48 and born in 1971 myself, I think there have been a lot of changes in 48 years, so this is a great time for the human resources and skills development committee to study these things.
I recognize that a lot of studies have been done and that there have been requests. Recently there was a response to the HUMA committee from the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development. He indicated that the committee needs to explore impacts for employers and the cost implications relating to the increase in sickness benefits.
This discussion has already started at the HUMA committee, and we have heard from many different parties as to what we are looking at.
Let me go back to the MS Society. When people come to our office, many times they will tell us that they are able to work one day but not the next, so we need to have the opportunity to talk about what their needs are as well. They too need to have some sort of financial plan. Many of them are able to work, but it just may not be all the time.
When looking at issues like that, we need to make sure what the impacts will be on both the employer and the employee, as well as what the cost of the program will be. Luckily, earlier this spring we received a PBO report. Information was received by the PBO knowing that the study was going to be done. The report shows that the cost of this program would be $1.1 billion in 2020 and would be expected to grow by $1.3 billion by 2025.
I find those statistics really important. If we are going to extend this program, we have to look at what the cost will be to taxpayers and employers. We think it would probably be about $1.62 per every $100 earned through employment. We have to see at the end of the day if this is best for Canada's bottom line, and more importantly, if this is best for the bottom line of a family budget of somebody who is sick.
Let us compare benefits. There are many different benefits available through the employment insurance program.
The first one I can think of is the family caregiver benefit. The family caregiver benefit is available to parents or anyone who has a child under the age of 18. Parents are able to take some weeks off to care for their children if they are in critical or serious need.
There is also the caregiver for adults benefit. This benefit is for family members to assist other family members over the age of 18.
One benefit that I think is very important is the compassionate care benefit. I was really proud when our government expanded the number of weeks to receive this benefit. This benefit recognizes that 26 weeks is an appropriate amount of time when a loved one is going to pass away. This benefit allows that loved one to be provided with psychological and mental support from family members during a time of need.
Those 26 weeks were set by our former government, and I think it is fantastic to know that family can be there at the end of life and know that benefits are available. The family has to coordinate the benefits, however. The entire family cannot take 26 weeks each, but they can coordinate those 26 weeks so that each family member can care for a loved one.
I would like to see some changes made to this, but it needs to be a whole-of-government approach. We need to look at it. We need to know what all 338 members of Parliament think about it. We also need to hear from physicians. We need to know what they think when it comes to people going back to work. We have to look at stress loads. We need to look at what is best for a person who has just had a massive heart attack or open-heart surgery. We need to make sure that somebody looking to return to work is in good health and does not need to take time off because he or she returned to work too soon.
What are some of the things that we should be considering if somebody has had a knee replacement or a hip replacement? Is the person able to go back to full-time work? Is he or she able to go back to part-time work? Could he or she participate in a work-sharing project? There are lots of different opportunities to discuss.
It is important to have members come to the HUMA committee and discuss some of these issues. It is also great to have not-for-profit organizations and many health organizations come along as well. It is important to hear from members of the Cancer Society, the MS Society, the Diabetes Association and a variety of these organizations to find out what works best for Canadians and what families need. I fully support having this conversation. Everybody needs to be at the table.
We recognize that coming back from surgery can be very difficult. I had surgery in January and I wanted to come back to work immediately. Unfortunately, my body, my mind and my family said absolutely not, and when I did come back to work a little too soon, I paid the piper, as my father would say. I did not feel well. We need to make sure that everybody has the opportunity to make sure that their health is taken care of first.
I am really excited about the opportunity to study this at human resources and skills development committee. This is a great opportunity for all Canadians to ask what we have done in the last 48 years and what can we do to improve the system.
I thank the member for Sydney—Victoria for putting this motion forward.