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On January 4, 2002 Canadian homemaker and teacher Beverley Smith wrote to the Attorney General of Canada, Anne McLellan, requesting that she refer to the Supreme Court of Canada for hearing six questions of law concerning the value of caregiving in Canada.

In 1930 a challenge of a similar nature was made by five ordinary women, to determine if women were fairly excluded from the Senate because they were not deemed 'persons'. Though Canada agreed with the law, the Privy Council in England clarified the term and said women were indeed persons and could serve in the Senate. The case, known as the "Persons Case" revolutionized women's rights and opened the door to many of the advances women have been able to make in Canada.

The route of appeal to the Privy Council in England has since been closed. However there is still an avenue open to ordinary people to question the constitutionality of some of Canada's laws, and it is this route Ms. Smith is pursuing.

The goal of the appeal for reference is to seek Court opinion on the value of traditional unpaid caregiving of the young, the sick, the elderly, the handicapped and the dying.
These are traditionally women's roles historically, so this appeal claims that failure to recognize the value of the role is a discrimination on grounds analogous to gender.

What is at issue?

Ms Smith believes that six articles of law are not consistent with Canada's constitution or the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. She would like the Supreme Court to clarify their constitutionality.
The six articles are:
-under the Income Tax Act, the spousal deduction is less than a full personal deduction
-under the Income Tax Act, the child care expense deduction is restricted to receipted daycare or nanny care and excludes recognition of other forms of care of children.
-under the Canada Pension Plan, unpaid caregivers are ineligible to contribute to their own registered retirement savings or pensions
-under the Employment Insurance Act new mothers who are self-employed, employers or unpaid caregivers are inelibile to receive maternity benefits
-under the Employment Insurance Act unpaid caregivers in the home are excluded from parental benefits to care for children
-under the Income Tax Act the child tax benefit is based on family income not individual income, depriving the caregiver of financial autonomy or dignity and forcing dependency