Mr. Speaker, the member is well aware that generally in the labour market, women are often in what is called non-standard employment. That means that women are often involved in contract employment or in starting up their own businesses. They may have seasonal or part-time employment, which can be insurable employment, but often women are not eligible to collect regular employment insurance benefits even if they have paid the premiums, because they often do not have enough hours since they have not worked enough weeks.
This piece of legislation is particularly attractive because it would allow self-employed women to opt into a system that would at least allow them to claim maternity or adoptive parental leave benefits if they chose to have children or adopt children. This would significantly contribute to women being able to spend some quality time with their children in their very early years. It would be of benefit in terms of encouraging them to continue to be self-employed.