Okay. I would simply like to point out that maternity or parental benefits are certainly a step forward for Canadians. As you know, we have had a parental insurance plan in Quebec since 2006. We recommend that the current system be improved and modelled after what Quebec is doing, because we believe that all Canadians should benefit from the same advantages and the same support when they have a child. I have a long list of those advantages, but I will spare you the details. Perhaps during the question and answer period I could tell you a little more about these advantages.
I would, however, like to take a few moments to talk about compassionate benefits, which are paid over six weeks when an individual must be away from work to care for a sick family member with a significant risk of death. We know that in 2006-07, out of the 5,676 people who took this leave, 4,262 were women. That is certainly a laudable initiative, but it is not enough.
Consider the example of Quebec’s Act Respecting Labour Standards. It provides for 12 weeks of unpaid leave to take care of a family member who is ill, but without the restriction that that individual faces a risk of death. When that individual is a child, the worker can take leave for up to 104 weeks. We must think carefully about how that measure can be improved. We believe that 12 weeks of compassionate benefits should be offered with no waiting period, with a 70% income replacement rate in order to allow those workers, who incidentally, are mostly women...
As for the family supplement, I would simply like to say that it has not been indexed since 1997.