Self-employed Canadians may get benefits

TORONTO, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Canada's Conservative party presented a bill in parliament Tuesday that would give the self-employed access to federal parental, sickness and care benefits.

At a Toronto news conference, Human Resources Minister Diane Finley said the measure, if passed, would allow self-employed citizens to begin paying into the federal Employment Insurance program beginning Jan. 1 and then become eligible for benefits a year later, the Canwest News Service reported.

Some 2.6 million people in the country are self-employed, the majority of them women, Finley said.

The proposed bill would allow claims for sick benefits along with compassionate care benefits when caring for a dying family member or loved one, Canwest said.

Although the Conservatives have a minority government, the measure has support from one of the three opposition parties. The socialist New Democratic Party opted out of a non-confidence vote earlier this year to bring down the Ottawa government based largely on the plan to extend benefits, the report said.

That party's support all but guarantees its parliamentary passage.