Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one in six Canadian couples experience infertility. The costs of fertility treatments are financially, emotionally, and physically exhausting. Most companies, policies, and initiatives focus on issues like duration of parental leave, post leave integration, and work life balance. While pregnancy and child birth are highly visible and often celebrated, fertility challenges tend to be invisible, silent, and devastating.
Some employers are working to walk the talk when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion, recognizing and supporting the diverse ways that families grow. Canadians are calling on infertility to be covered by health care given its status as a valid medical condition, and as a result seven Canadian provinces provide financial support to residents for fertility treatment.
Nova Scotia and Manitoba offer a tax credit of up to 40 percent of treatment costs. New Brunswick has a onetime grant of $5,000. While in PEI, IVF grants run from $5,000 to $10,000 depending on family income. In Newfoundland and Labrador, IVF treatments are subsidized at $5,000 per cycle to a maximum of three cycles. These funds are intended to support travel as there is no IVF provider in the province. Quebec and Ontario both have programs that pay for one round of IVF treatment. And BC Liberals are currently proposing similar public funding.
Mr. Speaker, to recruit skilled workers in a tight labour market, some Canadian employers are starting to offer these fertility benefits.
TD Bank offers benefits for reproductive treatments and costs associated with surrogacy, donors, and adoption with a $20,000 lifetime maximum for each benefit. Scotia Bank offers a lifetime maximum of $10,000 for surrogacy, fertility or adoption expenses. CIBC offers a lifetime maximum of 15,000 for fertility and a separate lifetime maximum of $15,000 for surrogacy expenses. Mr. Speaker, even Starbucks offers a lifetime maximum of $30,000 to employees for family expansion.
Yes, the cost of fertility treatments are financially burdensome, but in the world of health insurance, fertility benefits are not costly or risky to include because they are considered nonrecurring health claims, and employees are unlikely to spend money on fertility every year of their life in perpetuity.
When I started my research, I expected to find a growth strategy that would set the North apart. But, Mr. Speaker, it appears the North has already fallen behind in offering inclusive support for a chronic illness that speaks to the needs of Canadians.
Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Ministers of Health and Social Services and Finance and hopefully update our territory's support for the diverse ways that families grow. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Members' statements. Member for Great Slave.
Member’s Statement 1097-19(2):
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to today to express my thanks to the communities of Fort Simpson and Jean Marie River for my recent visit to the Deh Cho to have a look at how things were shaping up ahead of the recent flooding. I wanted to thank the interim Grand Chief for the Deh Cho, Stanley Sanguez, for taking time to speak with me, as well as the LKFN Chief Kele Antoine, and Chief Nolene Hardisty of Jean Marie River who made her staff available for me.
In addition, I'd also like to thank the municipal staff, Mayor Sean Whelly of Fort Simpson, as well as the shelter operator was, for allowing me to come and really have a look at the community and see where the flood recovery is at.
Mr. Speaker, I'm quite concerned about over a year out from the floods in Fort Simpson last year that we don't have people back in their homes. We've spent $2 million on a sole source contract to a business in order to project manage and get these people back in. And I'm curious, Mr. Speaker, to know if there are penalties built into that contract for the fact that they have not delivered on time.
I look at the homes. They are not suited for northern buildings. They have flat roofs. Snow load on them will be a lot. In fact, water was pouring out of the corner of one of them when there hadn't been rain or snow for weeks prior to that. I'm very concerned that when we look at what's happening in Hay River that we are going to be in the same situation there within the next year.
This government has told me that it is on the municipalities to budget and prepare for emergencies; however, I cannot understand how we can leave it to communities and municipalities with little to no capacity and underfunded resources to prepare for climate change driven emergencies. That is the responsibility of this government and this Cabinet to ensure that happens.
Mr. Speaker, I'm not going to ask any questions today. My own mental health has been struggling through this last while as I listen to people tell me time and time again how neglected they feel by this Cabinet, how neglected they feel by senior bureaucracy, and how basically horrific things have become in some of the smaller communities. And I really have to say I don't think people care. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Members' statements. Member for Nunakput.
