A Liberal minister struck a last-minute deal with the Conservatives before members left for the holidays to change the law to extend bereavement leave for grieving parents.
Tory MP Tom Kmiec, whose daughter Lucy-Rose died at only 39 days old in 2018, has been trying to change the law to give parents who have a stillborn baby or lose a child more time off work to grieve.
The Calgary MP introduced a private member鈥檚 bill before the recent general election to try to extend bereavement leave, but, like most private bills, it did not become law.
In a rare outbreak of cross-party co-operation days before MPs paused for the holidays, Labour Minister Seamus O鈥橰egan and Tory labour critic Scott Aitchison struck a deal to ensure Kmiec鈥檚 proposed change would make it to the statute book.
O鈥橰egan says the deal to insert parts of Kmiec鈥檚 private member鈥檚 bill into a Liberal government bill making its way through the Commons is the kind of thing that doesn鈥檛 happen often, but he felt compelled to act after hearing of Kmiec鈥檚 personal tragedy.
Kmiec says thousands of parents, shattered by grief but forced to go straight back to work, had contacted him to express support for the law change.
鈥擳he Canadian Press
