List of Local Events Across Canada List of Cities Proclaiming May 28th Thank You to our Sponsors News Release - May 28, 2005 Media Release- January 2005 Speeches & Supporting Documents Like comparing apples to oranges

What a Celebration!! Multiple-birth families and dignitaries attended the lead event at the Dionne Quints Museum in North Bay, Ontario - May 28th, 2005 at 1:00pm

The date is significant in that it represents the birth date of the Dionne Quintuplets, a true turning point in Canada’s history of understanding the multiple-birth experience.  The Board of Directors strongly felt that our future can only be enhanced if we consider our history and grow from it.  That said, we felt it was very important to have the support of the surviving Dionne Quints (thank you Cécile and Annette), and that the Dionne Quints Museum is the backdrop for celebrating the 1st Annual National Multiple Births Awareness Day. 

Visiting the Museum is an emotional experience, because as parents of multiples we realize the loss associated with the events that transpired in the 1930’s.  We mourn for the lack of bonding between the parents and their daughters.  We grieve the absence of family cohesiveness.  We understand and are thankful for all that the Dionnes have quietly accomplished, making sure that this history is never repeated for other Canadian families by leaving the museum as a legacy of what “should not” have been.

Therein lies the reason why we celebrated National Multiple Births Awareness Day – with the 2005 message that EI maternity and parental benefits do not address the unique bonding and physical challenges of multiple-birth families – at the Dionne Quints Museum in North Bay, Ontario on May 28, 2005.

2005 – A Call to Dialogue regarding current provisions for maternity, parental and compassionate care leave under the federal Employment Insurance Program (media release)