Madam Speaker, I had the privilege of sitting on that task force on young entrepreneurs which the hon. member chaired. One of the things that our task force found and which we are seeing as we consult women across the country, is that it is the role of government to find that right balance, to know when to walk away and when to assist businesses, to promote and to facilitate. Our role is more as a facilitator, to see how we can encourage small and medium size enterprises to grow and expand and take part in the global market.
Women entrepreneurs, especially the younger ones, still find that one of the challenges or barriers to starting their own businesses is the inability to take parental or maternity leave. As I said earlier in my speech, maternity benefits cannot be accessed by women entrepreneurs because they do not pay into the employment insurance system. Is there a way that we can try to encourage this? We are looking at that in the task force and it is something we have to address.
Another program that certainly has had praise from the few consultations we have had is the self-employment assistance program which is delivered through Human Resources Development Canada. We have heard it has had tremendous results and truly has encouraged women to start up their own businesses.
The member is right in that we have to be careful in finding the right balance but at the same time we should not be afraid of helping small and medium size enterprises. Quite often we are encouraging large corporations, such as the automakers by helping them build their plants, or helping Bombardier to be successful nationally. When we do this, it is not just about subsidies. It is about creating jobs. It is about driving this economy. It is about branding Canada nationally and abroad.