Absolutely.
When I was elected for the first time, federally anyhow, a year and a half ago, and I found out very quickly that I would have to put forward a private member's bill, this idea was the one that immediately came to mind. I said, “We're going to change the world. We're going to change EI, and we're going to do this.” Then very quickly I found out that I wasn't allowed to spend any new money, so that shattered a lot of my dreams.
However, I worked within the system that says a private member's bill cannot call for the spending of any new money and aimed instead to set up a framework through which that discussion could happen. If you're looking for somebody to continue this fight, I am certainly going to be there until we can say that 50% of those who work in trades are women because they choose to and want to.
The Quebec model is a very good model to look towards as an example. One of the things to highlight in particular about the Quebec model, the early release program, is that it's a specific model for maternity. It's a system that's been put in place to help specifically with this type of situation, whereas nationally it's the Employment Insurance Act. It's an act that covers a whole host of different issues related to employment insurance.
The first thing Melodie did when she became pregnant was to go on sick leave. She was not sick; she was pregnant. The system we currently have is not one that supports the changing nature of the labour market and the fact there are more women who want to be in trades and who want to work with an X-ray machine or whatever it might be, or in these various different lines of work, who could be impacted if they also choose to have a family.
In my opinion, that is seriously affecting a woman's choice to go down that road. When a woman has to choose among career paths and she also wants to have a family at some point, she might say, “Then I better go down this path instead of the one I really want, which is this one.” The discussion I'm trying to have with this strategy is to come up with ideas as to how we can take down these barriers for women who want to pursue their dream job.