Status of Women committee  Yes, Statistics Canada has been publishing those studies for years. The most recent one I've seen is dated 2005, I think. It's something they document very closely.

Status of Women committee  Approximately 25% of women are not able to take their full maternity leave period, even though technically it's been expanded to a year. Those are women who, on average, have incomes of $16,000. The whole group of the 25% earn $20,000 or less, or if they are not single parents, they, with their partner or husband together, earn no more than $40,000 per year.

Status of Women committee  Well, there are figures showing that child care is an absolute pre-condition to access, and that is one of the points on which the OECD has roundly criticized Canada. Canada provides less child care than any of the 30 OECD industrialized countries, and it also has the worst record in terms of trying to keep the rates affordable.

Status of Women committee  I'll reply briefly to that. My colleague has some comments that she will also make in relation to this. The workforce is highly diverse. Family forms are so numerous that they can't possibly be identified, and new ones are emerging all the time. The employment insurance system itself has a number of subprograms and seeks to fairly address the contingencies that arise in all of these different sectors.

Status of Women committee  In the HDI?

Status of Women committee  I think it might be a bit higher.

Status of Women committee  I think it is one of several key pieces that are all going in the same direction: watering down or eliminating pay equity at the same time as changes to employment insurance and adequate child care are introduced. All these things need to be changed. It's almost as if there's a list of things that have been accomplished for women in Canada and somebody is working down that list.

Status of Women committee  Self-employed workers are an area of very great need, and in a way their needs—and particularly women who are self-employed, because they will earn less than self-employed men—particularly need consideration, because when they're unemployed or on maternity leave they have to replace themselves, where the entire business disappears and has to go into some form of liquidation.

Status of Women committee  If they have a spouse. If they don't, then they fall into another category that is even closer to the edge. And although the amount that a person with a low income can earn without losing their guaranteed income supplement and old age security has gone up a little bit, it's not very much money.

Status of Women committee  I would say that it is something that definitely should happen. Canada does not have a long enough benefit period. But for women who are now disproportionately excluded from the employment insurance system, even though they may pay into it for much of their working lives, it's still excluding them.

Status of Women committee  I can't say I've studied every group, but I have looked intensively at the situations of a number of them. The ones who stand out in my mind as needing some serious, focused attention are, first of all, new entrants into the workforce. Those workers include both immigrant workers—people who are new to Canada—and people who have just finished their education and are coming out of university with huge debt, if they've been so fortunate to attend.

Status of Women committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you to the members of the committee who are attending to discuss this extremely important issue. I was surprised that apparently no other element of the federal government had taken these issues so seriously and relieved to see that this committee has begun at the place where I think everything should have begun when the discussions about how to adjust federal policy to the new economic realities began several months ago.

Status of Women committee  Yes. I just want to say quickly that it does sound as if the Department of Finance is now ready to launch what it considers to be its official gender-based analysis template, using the working income tax credit as an example. And there are severe methodological problems even with their supposed detailed gender-based analysis.

Status of Women committee  Okay. I will really try to keep this brief. My answer to your question is that some important tools have to be developed and be put into place and be used assiduously in order to be able to produce the outcome that you believe can be generated through this process. In the April 1 submissions—which I believe were translated and distributed to you some time last week, or yesterday—there was a long table slightly refocused to 2006 and 2007 only.

Status of Women committee  We all want to respond, but Armine has first dibs.