Evidence of meeting #185 for Finance in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was women's.
A recording is available from Parliament.
9:25 a.m.
Prof. Andrea Doucet
We did nine provinces, because that's all the data we had at that time.
9:25 a.m.
Prof. Andrea Doucet
There was no data on the territories, or people living on reserves in terms of the benefits at the moment.
9:30 a.m.
Prof. Andrea Doucet
That was in terms of the Statistics Canada data that's run through ESDC. I'm sure it's going to be changing. The last dataset that we analyzed was in 2013, and that's all there was at that time.
9:30 a.m.
Northumberland—Peterborough South, Lib.
Does that have anything to do with the long-form census being gone? Was there no data coming in?
9:30 a.m.
Prof. Andrea Doucet
It could have something to do with that. We are working with Statistics Canada to try to get better data to measure different groups' access to parental leave benefits but also more on fathers. There's very little data on fathers as well.
9:30 a.m.
Northumberland—Peterborough South, Lib.
You mentioned a couple of things. About 25% of the women outside of Quebec, within the nine provinces, do not qualify. One of those reasons was that they didn't have the hours to qualify. In that 25%, does that also include self-employed women, who do not choose to...?
9:30 a.m.
Prof. Andrea Doucet
No. Self-employed women are categorized differently, but they can opt-in or not. We argue that, as in Quebec, we should make the opt-in much easier. The opt-in is more complicated outside Quebec.
9:30 a.m.
Northumberland—Peterborough South, Lib.
The 25% are only women who don't access it because of hours, not because of self-employment. Is that correct?.
9:30 a.m.
Prof. Andrea Doucet
Yes.
9:30 a.m.
Northumberland—Peterborough South, Lib.
When you talk about 56% excluded, because of low income, can you—
9:30 a.m.
Prof. Andrea Doucet
It's low-income households earning under $30,000.
9:30 a.m.
Prof. Andrea Doucet
They don't have access, and it's either because they aren't eligible—they don't have the insurable hours—or because of the employment standards legislation, which has minimums in some provinces. In some provinces you need to have worked a year with the same employer. Let's say you accumulate your 600 hours but then you move jobs and you're working in another place. In Alberta, for example, you need to have at least 52 weeks with your employer before you can claim the benefits.
There are issues of being eligible but also of being able to actually claim the benefits. That makes that number higher.
9:30 a.m.
Northumberland—Peterborough South, Lib.
Job transference in the middle of the year would affect it.
9:30 a.m.
Prof. Andrea Doucet
In some provinces, yes.
9:30 a.m.
Prof. Andrea Doucet
I do. It's at least 52 weeks in Alberta, Nova Scotia, and then the three territories. In Manitoba it's 31 weeks. Quebec has no minimum, and New Brunswick and British Columbia on the other side. Ontario has at least 13 weeks.
9:30 a.m.
Prof. Andrea Doucet
You need to have worked 13 weeks before you can claim the benefits.
9:30 a.m.
Prof. Andrea Doucet
So you might be eligible but you can't claim.
9:30 a.m.
Liberal
November 6th, 2018 / 9:30 a.m.
Blake Richards Banff—Airdrie, CPC
Thanks.
I will start with you, Mr. Cross. In your opening remarks, you focused more on what you didn't see here and on the idea that there's a lack of fiscal responsibility. I think that's kind of what I heard your message to be. Having deficits at a time when the economy is moving along fairly well puts us at risk when things go the other way, and to serious concern. I would certainly agree with your comments there.
I want to take a little time with you now to focus in on some of the things that are in fact in the bill here. I assume you're familiar with the changes to the labour code.
