A bill which would have seen parental leave extended from 12 months to 18 months was recently defeated in the Provincial Legislature.

The bill, which was brought forward by the opposition NDP, did not receive support from the Progressive Conservatives.

Thompson MLA Kelly Bindle spoke to 102.9 CHTM and said that the 18-month leave is misleading. He said that while the extra six months sounds like a good thing, he noted that the parent taking leave would not get any extra income for the added time, and would be stretching their money even further. He also added that a persons income during parental leave is already at 55% of what they would earn while working.

Bindle went on to say that the government is opting to leave the decision with the employer and employee when it comes to the length of parental leave.

The move to an 18-month leave was recently mandated by the Federal government for all federally-governed work environments.