From what I've read of that proposal, the way I read the proposal is that the contributions to a separate EI fund for the self-employed would be only for maternity and parental benefits. I think providing regular unemployment benefits to the self-employed would be fraught with problems.
I understand that the contributions were going to be voluntary, and I can't see how that would work. Economists have the term “moral hazard”--you know, you could see older men saying no. With Quebec's plan, everybody pays in, as I emphasized.
Within the limits of the Constitution, I think you can do very much what Quebec has done. Because you're going to include the self-employed, your contributions can't come through payroll deductions because the self-employed tend not to participate in that. The contributions come through the income tax system, very much like the way we fund CPP.
I would basically look to Quebec, and to the extent that you can, copy what they've done.
Does that help at all?