Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of Bill C-222, the relieving grieving parents of an administrative burden act. First, l would like to acknowledge and thank the hon. member for Burnaby North—Seymour for bringing this bill forward.
The loss of a child is one of the most devastating experiences a parent can face. lt is a loss that reshapes a family forever. ln those moments, parents deserve compassion, stability, space to grieve and time. What they do not deserve is confusion, paperwork and bureaucracy.
As a mother of two young boys, I know how completely children shape our lives. They give us our responsibility, our purpose and our deepest vulnerabilities. Parenthood opens us up to extraordinary love, while also reminding us how fragile life can be. When that loss occurs, the role of government must be clear, to support families and not to burden them. This is something all members can agree on in this chamber.
Each year in Canada, thousands of families experience this unimaginable loss. In 2023 alone, more than 3,200 child deaths were reported, over half involving infants under the age of one, with many occurring in the first month of life. Under our current rules, while EI maternity benefits continue following the loss of a child, recognizing the physical and emotional recovery from childbirth, parental benefits stop immediately when a child dies. The only alternative is to reapply for EI, a process that involves new applications, medical documentation and biweekly reporting that forces parents to repeatedly confirm their loss.
No parent should have to prove their grief to the government. This is the gap that Bill C-222 addresses. The bill would amend the Employment Insurance Act so that parents receiving EI benefits to care for a newborn or an adopted child remain eligible for those benefits even if their child dies during the benefit period. It would also amend the Canada Labour Code to ensure that parents remain entitled to maternity or parental leave without interruption in the event of a child's death.
This is a simple, compassionate fix. It would allow parents to grieve without administrative burden, prevent unnecessary clawbacks and streamline government processes without increasing overall costs. Most importantly, it would treat all families, birth parents, adoptive parents and same-sex parents, with dignity and respect.
I have been encouraged by the broad, cross-party support for this legislation. This is not a partisan issue. This is about shared values of empathy, fairness and respect for families. It is also a reminder that Parliament can come together to fix systems when we see that they are causing harm. I do believe, though, that a broader conversation about how we can modernize employment insurance and caregiving supports is needed. However, Evan's law is about acting now, where we can, to prevent harm that is both clear and avoidable.
Protecting families in moments of vulnerability is one of the most serious responsibilities we hold as legislators. When we see that rules cause harm, even unintentionally, we have a duty to change it. This bill would remove unnecessary bureaucracy. When I think of my own children, I am reminded that the decisions we make in this chamber reach into people's lives at their most fragile moments.
Bill C-222 would ensure that when families face the unthinkable, our systems can respond with care and not further complication. For these reasons, I urge all members to support Bill C-222.