Hon. Colin Deacon: Your Honour, I would like to thank you for taking on the responsibility of being our Speaker; it is wonderful to see you in that chair.

My question is for the Government Representative. Senator Gold, entrepreneurship is fraught with challenges, some of which are particularly challenging for under-represented groups, including women.

Consider Sampler, a technology platform that helps companies to launch new products. Sampler has 1,000 companies that it works with, 45 employees, is on track to get $10 million in revenue and just acquired a New York–based company to expand its business further into the United States and Europe. It is the sort of level of success that we want to see more of. Imagine the surprise of Sampler’s founder and CEO, Marie Chevrier, when she went on maternity leave and found her application for parental benefits was declined, even though she had been paying into the Employment Insurance system, EI, for years.

I was shocked to learn that the Canada Revenue Agency declined her application on the belief that as a business owner she “would not truly be able to take a maternity leave.” Ms. Chevrier was left with no government support at a time when she needed it the most, and she is far from alone, as I understand.

Senator Gold, what is the rationale behind this arguably anti-feminist policy? Are there any plans for its review in the near future in order to allow entrepreneurs, and especially women, to feel more confident about building their families without fear of financial uncertainty?