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Ms. Smith has written letters to government members, ministers, organizations, women's groups and the media for 26 years.

With dedicated others she has joined organizations, written petitions, taken part in peaceful demonstrations and made presentations to government committees.

She has cheered on an Income Tax Court Challenge on one of these issues in 1993 and has applauded private members' bills on the topic and public polls endorsing and supporting changes such as she proposes. She has made four complaints at the Human Rights Commission and ultimately a successful complaint at the Division for the Advancement of Women at the United Nations. She remains a staunch Canadian, proud of her nation's record for aiming at lofty human rights principles and its openness to reassess its laws and try to improve them. She asks for this reference not because she criticizes Canada but because she firmly believes in the Constitution and its intent for equality. To question any law which does not seem to live up to the constitutional ideal is her civic obligation in order to make a fair society. She can be reached at bevgsmith@hotmail.com

Ms. Smith as a member of a historically disadvantaged group who herself was home with her own four children for many years to prioritize their care, is without means to pursue this reference in the courts.
However, the writers of the constition also anticipated such a situation and under the Supreme Court Act there is also provision for the court, in its discretion, to request any consel to argue the case and the reasonable expenses thereby occasioned may be paid by the Minister of Finance.

It is Ms. Smith's hope that the Attorney General would request the reference, or would permit Ms Smith to get standing, with the above financial understanding because this is a matter of national importance.

Many politicians have made statements that seem to imply caregivers are valued. The impugned laws seem all the more inconsistent in view of statements that 'we must respect the n eeds and righs of caregiers to secure their own well-being" or that the state believes in freedom of women to choose careers, and it believes in children.

At Beijing in 1995 Canada signed along with most other UN member nations, a Platform for Action, to start to evaluate unpaid labor and to render it more visible. Canada has made some inroads in this regard with its census and with time-use surveys in some areas. However the impugned laws continue to refer to unpaid caregivers as 'not working' and to create disincentives to their performance of their work.

It is Ms. Smith's belief that the ultimate goal of feminism which was to remove chains from women, is not achieved if the chains to be in the home are simply replaced with chains to be at the office. The real goal is removal of the chains so women (and men) can freely choose.

Recent Supreme Court decisions have offered intriguing precedents that suggest that the role of the unpaid caregiver is in fact an equal share of any marriage and a genuine financial contribution to it. Divorce settlements have reflected this although the equality of the role during marriage, without divorce, is still unclear due to the impugned laws.

The movement to recognize unpaid caregiving is an international movement and many countries have already moved to provide financial support to parents who care for their children in the home. Austria is currently considering a voucher system that 'flows with the child'.
Canada is currently the only G7 country to lack a universal tax recognition that it costs money to raise a child. Economists agree that having a child reduces ability to pay tax but the impugned laws do not consistently recognize this fact.