The House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities met to study Bill C-222, An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act and the Canada Labour Code (death of a child). Witnesses appearing were Nora Spinks, Chief Executive Officer of Work-Life Harmony Enterprises Ltd., as an individual; Carmen Wu, as an individual; Nancy Slinn and Peter Slinn, Directors of the Metro Vancouver Empty Cradle Bereaved Parents Society; and Sarah Cormier and Lee Cormier, Chair and Member-at-Large of the SIDS Calgary Society.
Nora Spinks provided a policy perspective, arguing that Bill C-222 is good public policy because it reduces barriers to Employment Insurance benefits and administrative burdens for grieving families, and sends a message that the government supports them. She recommended that funds be allocated in the next budget to support community organizations that help families, and noted that employers need training and resources to support returning employees, but that the bill's mechanics are already in place through existing maternity and parental leave systems.
Carmen Wu shared her personal experience of having to cancel parental benefits after her daughter Olivia was stillborn at 40 weeks, describing the trauma of having to stand in a Service Canada line to explain her loss. She emphasized that the proposed changes would allow grieving parents to continue receiving benefits without having to re-explain their loss or reapply during the most painful time of their lives, and stressed that no grieving parent should have to navigate such bureaucracy.
Nancy Slinn and Peter Slinn described their experience of stillbirth at 20 weeks, which fell into a legislative grey area, and noted that Nancy was granted only one week of leave by her employer. They recommended that the committee consider timeline parity, as recovery from infant loss requires a timeline similar to that after a live birth, and highlighted that complex medical diagnoses and the gig economy present additional challenges, urging the committee to keep vulnerable workers in mind for future legislative scrutiny.
Sarah Cormier and Lee Cormier recounted the death of their daughter Quinn from sudden infant death syndrome, and being told by Service Canada that "your child ceases to exist, therefore your benefits cease to exist." They urged the committee to move the bill forward without delay, noting that the seven recommendations from the 2018 parliamentary report "Supporting Families After the Loss of a Child" remain unfulfilled, and that thousands of families have fallen through the gap in the decade since they began their advocacy.
During the question period, witnesses agreed that the current system forces parents to choose between financial survival and mental health, and that the bill would remove the financial penalty of child loss. They emphasized that no two families grieve alike, and that the government should not dictate when a parent is ready to return to work. Witnesses also noted that resources for support already exist through organizations like SIDS Calgary Society and Empty Cradle, and that the key is mobilizing and implementing them.
The committee then debated a motion from Garnett Genuis to request House approval to expand the scope of Bill C-222 to also cover cases where a claimant receiving parental benefits dies during the benefit period. Some members argued this could delay the bill's passage and risk its royal recommendation, while others supported the expansion to help more families. The meeting adjourned without a decision on the motion.
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