The personal is economic: unearthing the rhetoric of choice in the Canadian maternity and parental leave benefit debates

In January 2004 the Québec Court of Appeal rendered its decision in Canada (Procureur général) c Québec (Procureur général).1 The court had been asked by the government of Québec to decide the constitutionality of the federal government of Canada’s maternity and parental leave benefits, a regime delivered through the (un)employment insurance system2 in Canada since 1971.3 In a matter that would ultimately be heard by the Supreme Court of Canada,4 the Québec Court of Appeal firmly anchored its decision in the rhetoric of choice.