It was seven years ago this week that the federal government told new mom Jennifer McCrea she couldn鈥檛 access sickness benefits while on maternity leave.

On Tuesday, the government publicly said it made the wrong decision and is agreeing to pay an estimated $11 million to about 2,000 women who, like McCrea, were blocked from accessing 15 extra weeks of employment insurance payments on top of a year鈥檚 worth of maternity benefits 鈥� despite the rules saying they could.

McCrea, the woman at the centre of the case, said the settlement had left her in tears most of the day with the burden of the case now lifted from her shoulders.

鈥淭here were a lot of people that this happened to and we wanted to make sure it didn鈥檛 happen to anybody else in the future and that we needed to help them,鈥� McCrea said in a telephone interview from her home in Calgary.

鈥淎bsolutely we鈥檝e been successful in doing that. Whether that took seven years or 17 years, that was originally what it had to be and it wasn鈥檛 just about me鈥�. It was about helping others.鈥�

McCrea was diagnosed with breast cancer in July 2011, while she was on maternity leave with her youngest son, Logan, who was eight months old at the time.

She had a double mastectomy in August 2011 and was deemed cancer-free shortly afterwards, but was denied sickness benefits, despite a 2002 law that allowed new parents to access the additional weeks of EI payments.

McCrea took the government to court in 2012 alleging thousands of others were also denied benefits between 2002 and 2013, when the Tories clarified the law for all future claims.

The problem was that prior to 2013, the government wouldn鈥檛 let new mothers and fathers switch from parental to sickness benefits until they could show they were otherwise available for work.

During the 2015 federal election the Liberals vowed to put an end to the legal dispute if they were elected only to rack up a legal bill of more than $2.5 million fighting the women in court after they formed government.

Federal lawyers gave the first hints earlier this year that the Liberals were ready to settle the case. Months of negotiations and paperwork followed before documents were officially submitted in August.

The settlement is conditional on Federal Court approval that is expected to happen in early December and payments should begin flowing to eligible women by next spring.

鈥淚鈥檓 happy about it. It鈥檚 just a tremendous relief,鈥� McCrea said.

In a statement, the government said it 鈥渞ecognizes the challenges faced by Canadians who cannot work because of illness, injury and other family challenges鈥� and reached a settlement in the case to 鈥渂ring closure to these legal proceedings.鈥�

Ottawa has not asked for any upper limit for pay outs, meaning federal coffers will pay out 100 per cent of the wrongfully denied benefits, including to families of women who have died. The total cost could be between $8.5 million and $11 million, but that will depend on the number of eligible women.

McCrea鈥檚 lawyer, Stephen Moreau, said the government鈥檚 decision to not impose a cap on payments was significant, particularly after a protracted legal fight.

鈥淎lthough this has taken a long time to get here, six and a half years of litigation, I am happy,鈥� he said.

The women in the case, he said, have 鈥減ersevered and they鈥檙e going to get 100 per cent what they鈥檙e owed.鈥�

The Canadian Press

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