Mr. Speaker, before I begin, I want to take a moment to thank colleagues in this House for their incredibly thoughtful and compassionate interventions. This is a moment when Canadians can be quite proud of this chamber as we come together for our shared humanity. I really want to thank my colleague from Burnaby North—Seymour for bringing the bill forward, because it touches all of us.
I rise today to tell everyone about Jennifer and her son Evan. Jennifer is the reason I stand here today in support of the bill, and her story is the inspiration for Evan's law. In spring 2022, a constituent called me to tell me her story. She had found her baby blue and motionless in his crib. In a panic, she called 911, and emergency services arrived soon after, confirming that he had passed. As she and her husband waited nearly six hours before a coroner came, a million questions flooded their minds. The experience was traumatizing.
Evan was four months old when he passed away. Jennifer described him as “a laughy little guy” who had the best smile. He loved to be held, and everybody loved to hold him. He was, as she said lovingly, the perfect little baby boy.
In the days that followed, Jennifer and her husband felt as though they did not know what to do with themselves, as though they were walking into walls, disoriented, exhausted and devastated. As a mother of two, I cannot begin to imagine the heartbreak and despair that comes with losing a child. I hope I never have to, but, sadly, as we all know, this happens to thousands of families each year in Canada. For about 1,600 families, it happens while they are on EI parental leave. Jennifer was one of those Canadians on EI parental leave at the time. No one told her after she lost Evan that she needed to contact Service Canada, but she did so of her own accord, which is not the case for many parents in her situation. She figured she needed to find out what this would mean.
Jennifer soon contacted Service Canada to describe what had happened. She was informed that because her child had passed, she was no longer eligible to receive parental benefits. In the eyes of the Employment Insurance Act as it is currently written, once a child passes away, the act no longer considers a person a parent. Therefore, they are no longer entitled to receive parental benefits. When I learned this, I was shocked. In my humble opinion, it is cruel and unnecessary both to define what being a parent is in this way and to cease benefits immediately if a person loses a child while on leave.
To receive any financial support or time off work, Jennifer would have to switch to EI sickness benefits, a program that is not designed with grieving parents in mind. She spent hours on the phone trying to switch her benefits. Then she was told that she would have to call back every two weeks to confirm her eligibility. This took a serious toll on her. She told me the biggest thing was that every single time she called, she spoke to a new person. She was forced to relive her trauma every two weeks and explain everything over again, every single time. Through no fault of their own, the staff picking up the phone at Service Canada were not always equipped or trained to handle the sensitivity and weight of that kind of call.
As we can imagine, contacting Service Canada is the last thing on the minds of grieving parents. Often, parents may not even realize that they have become ineligible. In too many cases, parental benefits continue to be paid in full, only for the CRA to seek repayment months or even years later. In effect, these parents find themselves indebted to the government because of the death of their child. I strongly believe this runs contrary to Canadian values and the values of this House, as we have seen today.
Like Jennifer and her husband, roughly 1,600 Canadian families face the tragedy of infant loss each year. Almost 50% of those losses occur in the first 24 hours following birth. For most who experience it, it is the darkest moment of their lives. Despite this, the current provisions of the Employment Insurance Act and the Canada Labour Code cut off access to parental benefits when infant loss occurs, removing critical support that these grieving Canadians so desperately need. When families need the most support, additional bureaucratic and financial strain is imposed upon them. However, we can change that, and Evan's law would do so.
While no policy can take away the sorrow and tragedy of losing a child, it is our duty as legislators to ensure that the systems we have in place do not add unnecessary burdens to the grieving process. The essence of the bill lies in our ability to support parents during their darkest moments. For anyone who has experienced a loss, particularly the loss of a child, the pain is not just emotional; it can also be financial and logistical, and it is often overwhelming.
By removing the need for a new claim and by ensuring that the parent continues to be eligible for benefits, Evan's law would provide not only financial relief but emotional relief as well. Grieving parents would no longer be forced to prove their eligibility in the midst of their mourning. The bill would send a message that as a country, we understand the profound impact of such a loss and that we are here to support those who face it with the utmost dignity and respect.
We must also recognize that every parent grieves differently. Jennifer needed time off. She needed time to grieve. On the other hand, her husband needed to go right back to work; that is what helped him through the grieving process. The bill would give parents the permission and the flexibility to grieve how they need to in one of the worst moments of their lives. We can give them the choice: to return to work when they are ready or to take the time they need.
Just last week, I heard from two more parents, Samantha and Neil. After they had suffered through three first-trimester losses on their journey to parenthood, their daughter Lily finally arrived, safe and sound, last December. However, this past March, just days before Lily turned three months old, the family received devastating news: Lily had been diagnosed with a highly aggressive form of acute leukemia. Samantha said, “We felt like lightning had hit us for the fourth time.”
Lily began undergoing intensive treatment immediately, and her parents moved into the hospital with her. They did not know how short their time left with her would be. Due to complications with her treatment, Lily passed away on June 28. Samantha soon learned that she was no longer eligible for parental benefits. In the midst of grieving such an enormous loss, she was forced to navigate a series of burdensome administrative tasks.
Samantha told me, “had Evan's law been in place, this would have been one less thing I would have worried about. It would have provided us some relief during that unimaginable time, allowing us some peace so we could grieve the death of our daughter.”
When we speak about family, we often focus on the joy that comes with raising children and supporting parents through the milestones of life, but it is equally vital to acknowledge the pain of loss and to ensure that our social safety net does not fail people who are in their time of greatest need.
Let me conclude with some thanks. First, I thank Jennifer for having the courage to share her and Evan's story, not just with me but with all of Canada. I thank Nora Spinks, Michelle La Fontaine and Lynn Steele, and the Pregnancy and Infant Loss Network, for their collaboration and support as we developed the legislation.
Of course, I offer very deep and heartfelt gratitude to my colleague and my dear friend, the member for Burnaby North—Seymour, for taking up the task and introducing Evan's law. I and thousands of others across the country are grateful for his compassion and leadership in moving Evan's law forward.
In their darkest moment, Evan's law would give grieving parents the knowledge that their benefits would not end abruptly, and the opportunity to take care of themselves. We are a nation that prides itself on compassion, and Evan's law would be a step toward ensuring that our policies reflect that compassion in the most challenging of circumstances.
In honour of Evan's life and in honour of every parent who has experienced this unimaginable loss, I am grateful to my colleagues who have expressed their support for this private member's bill. It is time to give grieving parents the space and the support they need during the most difficult time in their lives.