Human Resources committee  Gladly. The line of argument that was blocking any progress was really the fear of possible legal action from biological parents who had not understood that it was important for adoptive families to have an equivalent form of leave. Nothing like that ever happened. On the contrary, the many petitions launched in Quebec were supported by thousands of Quebeckers.

Human Resources committee  We are there to help even before adoption takes place to ensure that people properly understand what attachment is. These days, fortunately, adoptive parents no longer do things blindly. They have access to documentation. There's no guidebook explaining exactly how to become a parent, but we do provide a lot of information.

Human Resources committee  Even though it's now a done deal for Quebec parents, we definitely feel solidarity with all adoptive families. We were in the same situation, and so we know what that represents. We think that all children in Canada, and all families, deserve to have a measure of that kind introduced.

Human Resources committee  No, we did not have a meeting at the federal level, because our efforts were concentrated on the Quebec side of things.

Human Resources committee  I'd just like to add that this is why adoptive mothers in Quebec do not receive maternity leave, but rather welcome and support leave. They are different benefits that meet different needs. They last for the same amount of time, in the interest of equity for all families. If the situation had been evaluated on the basis of needs, more leave would have been required for adopted children in certain instances, but no one wanted to create a new inequity as a consequence of correcting an existing one.

Human Resources committee  It clearly helped us argue on behalf of children too. The employment insurance system is mainly focused on employees. However, that helped us make people aware of issues that affect children. Indeed, the fact that parents would be able to spend time with their children has an impact on all kinds of other services in society, including the education system and the health system.

Human Resources committee  Among other things, what we've seen is that more parents who adopted an older child were willing to take a full year off work, even if their child was going to school. It enabled them to handle all kinds of other tasks throughout the day. For example, they were able to fetch the child at lunch time, have lunch with them, and then fetch them again at the end of the day.

Human Resources committee  I fully agree with what Ms. Despaties said. And, knowing that they are also entitled to these weeks of benefits, people won't be subjected to the stress of seeing the leave period come to an end. Thanks to these additional 15 weeks, parents would have peace of mind and no longer wonder how they're going to find the money they need to take unpaid leave.

Human Resources committee  Thank you for giving the Fédération des parents adoptants du Québec the opportunity to testify about Quebec's experience of adoption leave. The Fédération is a non-profit organization founded in 1986 which provides services by and for adopting parents to provide them with support, information and guidance on resources, and to defend their interests.