Some of us may find ourselves, at some point in our lives, the inspiration for a song or a poem.

Kingston’s Melodie Ballard can say she and her nine-month-old son, Ezra, inspired a private member’s bill in the House of Commons in Ottawa.

Last week, Kingston and the Islands MP Mark Gerretsen rose in Parliament to introduce amendments to the Employment Insurance Act that would allow women who work at dangerous jobs to collect their maternity leave pay early.

Ballard was working as a welder in training at MetalCraft Marine about 17 months ago when she discovered she was pregnant.

When her doctor found out what type of work she was doing, Ballard was faced with some tough decisions.

"They recommended I not work while I was pregnant," she recalled.

There was concern for the gases given off by the welding, the aluminum dust, as well as the abundance of sharp and dangerous equipment and factory waste.

"There are a lot of hazards," Ballard said.

When she went to apply for federal employment insurance, however, things got complicated. Parental leave allows for 38 weeks of income replacement but only after the baby is born. Maternity leave provides pay for 15 weeks, but only eight weeks of that can be claimed prior to the estimated birth date.

Ballard was going to have to go without pay for 32 weeks.

It was worked out that she could collect 15 weeks of sick leave pay — but that still left her 10 weeks without an income before maternity benefits kicked in.

It was a bad time.

Pregnant and single, Ballard lost her rental home on Wolfe Island, and only the kindness of a friend, who offered to rent a room in the basement of her home, enabled her to get by.

"I had my baby while I was there," she said.

Ezra was born near end of last May and, determined to get a full year at home with him before she returns to work, Ballard has been living on a meagre $537 a month from Ontario Works until the end of this May.

Ballard wouldn’t have faced those economic woes if she had held a job that would have allowed her to work up to the point where she could claim maternity leave.

"There wasn’t any protection for my situation," she said. "People don’t realize what it’s like to be caught in a gap."

In the course of applying in vain for early maternity leave assistance, Ballard went to the previous MP for Kingston and the Islands, Ted Hsu.

She had discovered that Quebec already had legislation allowing early qualification for benefits for women in her situation.

When Gerretsen won the seat, he picked up her case and started working it through the system in Parliament.

"We have to break down as many barriers as possible," Gerretsen said. "We always talk about women having equal opportunities. There’s lots of women who want to go into trades. This [bill] tries to capture that aspect of it."

The bill has two parts:

• The first would see women working in hazardous jobs being able to access the full 15-week maternity benefit ahead of their due date.

• The second part calls for a full review of and changes to the national maternity benefit system that would reflect "the changing labour market of today."

Gerretsen hopes the discussion might lead to better coverage for women working as welders, mechanics, X-ray technicians, construction personnel and perhaps even police officers.

The order of private member’s bills in the House of Commons is chosen by lottery and Gerretsen’s was 22nd out of those presented by 338 members.

He stood in the Commons last Friday to make the one-minute introduction, only the third or fourth time he’s addressed Parliament since being elected last fall.

The bill will get first reading next week, second reading in May and, if voted in favour of then, will move on to committee where it could be discussed for up to a year.

It would then require third reading and the approval of the Senate to be made into law, perhaps a year and a half from now.

"It’s personally rewarding," Gerretsen said. "It’s a good bill for me to bring forward because it was involving someone right here in our community, but it also has national impact."

PSchliesmann@postmedia.com