Conservative Leader Stephen Harper hammered another plank into his election platform Monday, announcing plans to provide maternity and parental benefits to the self-employed.
Under the current system, Canadians who run their own businesses do not pay into the federal Employment Insurance program and as a result, can't tap into paid maternity leave or parental benefits.
Harper called that unjust and said he would change the system if re-elected.
"Self-employed Canadians -- and those who one day hope to be -- shouldn't have to choose between starting a family and starting a business because of government policy," Harper said in Ottawa after meeting with the owners of a salon and day spa.
"They should be able to pursue their dreams -- both as entrepreneurs and as parents."
Harper appeared to be taking a page from former prime minister Jean Chretien, who won votes by extending maternity leave benefits from six months to one year.
Harper said 2.6 million Canadians work for themselves -- including one million women -- and they deserve access to the benefits of EI.
He said it is ironic that successful small business owners must pay EI benefits on their employees' behalf, but cannot access the system themselves.
Harper called the promise "modest and affordable." He said it is expected to cost $150 million annually, but would be funded entirely by premiums paid by participants.
Catherine Swift, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, spoke with Â鶹´«Ã½net from Ottawa on Monday afternoon.
Swift said most people will agree that something should be done for small-business owners who can't receive benefits, but the plan uses EI to deliver a social program -- something she says her group doesn't support.
"We don't believe that EI should be twisted and distorted more than it already is," Swift said. "It's become something way removed from an unemployment insurance system, which the vast majority of our small-business members think it should be. It's become a big grab-bag of social policies.
"I certainly agree with the concept of having some type of assistance for both self-employed women and their spouses in this kind of situation, but I just don't think that EI is the vehicle to do it."
Swift also said the plan is hard to critique as the Conservatives have yet to create definitions of what it means to be self-employed and what the premium levels would be.
CTV's Roger Smith, travelling with Harper, said the announcement is a clear attempt to improve the Conservatives' standing with female voters.
"His stress was on the one million women that are self-employed entrepreneurs. Obviously one of the Conservatives' perceived weaknesses is with women voters, and this was an effort to reach out to them today," Smith said.
Under the plan:
- participation would be voluntary
- self-employed Canadians would have to sign up for the EI plan six months before making a claim
- details about premium amounts and required post-claim payments would be set when the program is implemented after review by the Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board.
