Supreme Court won’t hear couple’s appeal in bid to collect double benefits

OTTAWA – An Ottawa couple who were seeking double parental benefits in order to care for their twin girls won’t get to argue their case before the Supreme Court of Canada.

The court says it won’t hear an appeal from Christian Martin and his wife Paula Critchley, who each wanted to take a full 35 weeks of parental leave after their twin daughters were born in April 2009.

The Canada Employment Insurance Commission initially ruled against them on the basis that multiple births and adoptions are treated as a single event for the purposes of employment benefits.

A board of referees overturned that decision and gave them each the 35 weeks they wanted.

That ruling was then overturned by an arbitrator, whose findings were upheld by the Federal Court of Appeal.

As usual, the Supreme Court gave no reasons for its decision.