Yes, on that huge question.... It's obviously really important for women to decide whether they want to have kids or not, first of all, and if they do want to have kids, when they will have them and in what conditions. Child care has been identified by Supreme Court Judge Rosalie Abella as “the ramp” for women to have access to the paid workforce.
We know that good-quality child care is really important for women so they can go to work with peace of mind knowing that their kids are being well taken care of. As I said, studies are showing that publicly funded, good-quality child care actually pays off for the government, because they get more than they pay by having women participating in the paid labour force and paying taxes, and by having children with healthy development. We know that child care is really important for children from disadvantaged families. In particular, for immigrant children, it's a real boost to help them integrate.
On maternity benefits and paid leave for protective reassignment, right now the Canada Labour Code has very weak provisions to ensure that when women are pregnant or nursing they can actually be reassigned to different jobs that are safe for them and for their babies. We don't have paid leave under the Canada Labour Code when women have to stop working because of their pregnancy.
I think this was debated in the House just last week. Unfortunately, a bill was lost, but—