David’s cause
Partner’s illness denied him access to benefits
Kathy MacNaughton’s door sticks a little when she opens it.
“I wish he was here to fix it,” she says.
The “he” she’s referring to is David Fraser, her common-law partner who passed away on Aug. 4, 2014.
He was kind and loving, she says, an avid outdoors man and a country boy at heart who loved his family, friends and life itself.
Fraser was 50 when he died of esophageal cancer. But before he did, MacNaughton made him a promise. She would fight for the rights of terminally ill patients like Fraser to have access to Employment Insurance benefits during their final days. She’s been fighting since his death for what she calls David’s Cause.
“The EI act for sick leave states you must be ready, willing and able to work, and most terminal ill people are ready and willing but just not able,” she says.
She’s written letters and had meetings with former MP Peter MacKay and then MP Sean Fraser when he took office. She’s also met with MLA Tim Houston. All have been willing to listen and write letters on her behalf. But so far nothing has changed.
To her, it’s a complete injustice.
Fraser, for example, paid into the Employment Insurance program since he began working at 17 with the exception of an eight-year period he was self-employed.
It was while working in Rainbow Lake, Alta., that he was diagnosed with cancer. He was advised by his doctor to come home for treatment and applied for sick benefits. In the coming months, he would go through chemotherapy and tests, only to learn the cancer couldn’t be cured. On July 7, all treatments were stopped and he was given three weeks to three months to live.
When his EI sick benefits ran out, MacNaughton said he was advised that he had to file for his Canada Pension because he was not “ready, willing and able to work.” Because of this, he couldn’t get the 30 weeks he had remaining in EI benefits.
In eight months, she said, David went from a monthly income of $6,000, down to $1,600 a month in EI sick benefits and then to $852 a month from CPP.
With the EI benefits, they were holding their own financially, but when that stopped, they struggled to pay their bills.
She recalls one day, near the end of his illness, he laid a floor for someone, even though he probably shouldn’t have in his physical condition, because he wanted to contribute to the bills.
It’s something she says he shouldn’t have had to worry about.
“David and I were somewhat fortunate as I was working and have an insurance plan that let me be home and care for him in his last months,” MacNaughton says. “Most people are not that lucky.”
What’s frustrating, she notes, is that if Fraser had applied for EI benefits without mentioning his illness, he would have received them until he died.
“When an honest person follows the rules and applies for sick benefits, they fall through the cracks.”
What she proposes is terminally ill benefits.
“If a person applies for sick benefits and is diagnosed as terminally ill, they should be able to draw their entitled EI benefits for their remaining time living or until the benefits run out,” she says. “They could then proceed to draw their CPP if necessary.”
She suggests this benefit would only apply to persons who have a valid EI claim longer than 15 weeks’ sick benefits. If the person did not have a valid EI claim, then they would not be eligible for this process.
“I am not asking for handouts,” she says. “I am simply asking that a terminally ill person be treated with fairness, decency and compassion and be entitled to draw the funds they paid into.”
Over the course of researching the topic, she has found that billions of dollars have been taken from the EI surplus in the past to help balance federal government budgets.
She believes this is wrong. She believes it belongs to the people who paid into it and should be available to them when they need it.
There have been some improvements over the years. For example, in January 2016, a new bill was passed that grants six months for compassionate leave for people to care for a dying loved one. That’s great, says MacNaughton, but does nothing to help the dying person who can only draw for 15 weeks.
In previous correspondence with MacNaughton, Annette Ryan, director general for the Employment Insurance policy, stated that EI sickness benefits are intended to complement a range of other supports available for longer-term illness and disability, including benefits offered through employersponsored group insurance plans, private coverage held by individuals and long-term disability benefits available under the Canadian Pension Plan.
“Any proposed change to the duration of EI sickness would have wide-ranging impacts, and careful consideration would therefore need to be given to the potential effects on other supports and on employer-employee relationships,” she wrote.
MacNaughton believes it’s worth the work though and would love nothing more than to go to Ottawa and plead her case.
In the meantime, she’s trying to get the word out through social media and other avenues.
She’s also started an online petition: www.change.org/p/justin-trudeau-we-need-yourhelp-to-change-the-unemployment-insurance-bill-for-terminally-ill-canadians. Anyone who would like to talk to her about their own experience can email her at davids_cause@outlook.com.
“David and I were somewhat fortunate as I was working and have an insurance plan that let me be home and care for him in his last months. Most people are not that lucky.” Kathy MacNaughton
Kathy MacNaughton holds a picture of her late common-law partner David Fraser. Since his death she’s been fighting for the rights of terminally ill people to receive EI benefits.