Birth parents continue to receive 15 weeks more leave from work than adoptive parents
Ottawa (27 Jan. 2008) - The Supreme Court of Canada has refused to hear the case of a B.C. mother seeking to change Canada's employment laws to permit maternity leave for adoptive parents.
Under the federal Employment Insurance Act, birth parents receive a total of 50 weeks of leave when they combine parental and maternity leave but the same benefits are not available to adoptive parents.
When Patti Tomasson of Vancouver adopted children in 1999 and 2003, she applied for full benefits. She received 35 weeks in parental leave but was denied maternity benefits.
She fought the Canada Employment Insurance Commission, arguing that the refusal of the extra 15 weeks maternity leave allowed to birth parents amounted to a violation of her equality rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
When her case was before the Federal Court of Appeal in August 2007, it ruled that Tomasson did not qualify for maternity benefits because she did not undergo the "physiological and psychological experience" of pregnancy and childbirth.
Adoption advocates have argued that the 15 weeks of maternity leave are more than enough time to recover from childbirth. They say most of that time is actually spent bonding with the child, which adoptive parents need as much as birth parents.
As is normal when it decides not to hear a case, the high court gave no explanation for its decision.
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring that our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE
(Published as n27ja08b.htm)
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