Mr. Speaker, I would first like to say that my party and I will support the principle of the bill.
Overall, it is a rather modest bill in the sense that it makes a big difference for workers. It is also modest in the sense that it amends the Canada Labour Code rather than the Employment Insurance Act for employees who are subject to it. I will talk a little more about that later.
Right now, workers who take a leave of absence to care for a loved one have to return to work as soon as that person passes away. What this bill does is give workers, under certain conditions, time between the death of the person they were caring for and the date on which they have to return to work. That is no small thing because it enables caregivers to keep their jobs.
Maintaining that employer-employee relationship can be important for some reasons and in some industries. As my colleagues said, people should not have to decide whether to take caregiver leave while wondering whether they will have to choose between continuing to care for their loved one and losing their job.
Depending on the situation, this period can be longer. As we have heard, there is the mourning period and all of the arrangements. After going through all of this, it is important for people to take care of themselves.
Naturally, the majority of this 28-week leave, which is in the Canada Labour Code, is paid, because workers can access the compassionate care special benefit through the employment insurance system. As we all know, a worker needs to have accumulated 600 hours to be eligible.
There are people who need to take this kind of leave and who will not be paid. The period set out in the Canada Labour Code will therefore help people retain the employment relationship. We think this is a major amendment, which is why we will support this bill.
I also want to point out that we are debating this bill, introduced by the Conservative member, during national caregiver week, which is celebrated across the country, or at least it is in Quebec. I think that the caregiver's experience is well documented.
I will not overwhelm my colleagues with numbers this Friday afternoon. However, we must recognize that caregivers represent more than one-quarter of the workforce. Caregivers are mostly women. In addition to the loss of income arising from their absence from work, these people must also pay for additional expenses out of pocket. This has even been fairly well documented. In some cases, it can be up to $7,000 a year. In other cases, it is more than $400 a week, which is challenging.
I think that the value of what we have before us is that it lets us see the changes made under the Canada Labour Code and the changes we can eventually make to the Employment Insurance Act, and determine how we can support these family members who make a big difference.
I think society is better off for being able to rely on people who can help, even though that is a bit harder at this particular time. Our labour legislation should also help support workers and, furthermore, support them financially by means of leave provisions in other acts.
To conclude, we will support this bill. I look forward to this bill being referred to the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities, which I am a member of, so that we can improve it if need be.