Leader of the Official Opposition of Canada Erin O’Toole said on Sunday that his party is committed to providing women and grieving parents more support through “compassionate conservatism.”
During his campaign rally at a hotel in downtown Vancouver, O’Toole pointed out that besides enhancing financial assistance to grieving parents whose child just died, he also promised to increase the number of paid weeks given to women who went through stillbirth or a miscarriage.
The Conservative Leader stressed that eight weeks of paid leave would be given to parents after experiencing a stillbirth, and three days of the same will be provided for those who underwent a miscarriage. O’Toole also emphasized that mothers and fathers whose child just died will have extended employment insurance benefits for up to eight weeks.
The Leader of the Official Opposition stressed that a Tory government is aiming to “end the stigma” of Canadian parents struggling with the loss of a child, which is an issue that seems to be overlooked. “It’s long been treated as something you shouldn’t talk about,” O’Toole also said in his campaign speech on Sunday. “As a result, we as a country don’t give grieving parents the support they need.”
Based on the statistics gathered by Abacus Data in the 2015 federal election, the Liberal Party snagged 42% of the votes from women while the Conservatives only got 25%.
“We’re trying to reach out to all Canadians, and particularly women, to make sure that they can look at the Conservative party as a strong option to help their family, to help their business, to help their community,” O’Toole pointed out.
He rounded off his campaign pitch by saying, “I want more women to look in a mirror on September 20 and say, ‘You know what, I’m going to vote Conservative.'”
