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Law Gender & The Law

Taxing Choices

The Intersection of Class, Gender, Parenthood, and the Law

by (author) Rebecca Johnson

Publisher
UBC Press
Initial publish date
Oct 2007
Category
Gender & the Law, Legal History, Taxation, Gender Studies
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780774850346
    Publish Date
    Oct 2007
    List Price
    $32.95
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780774809573
    Publish Date
    Jan 2003
    List Price
    $34.95
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780774809566
    Publish Date
    Aug 2002
    List Price
    $95.00

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Description

In the early 1990s, lawyer Beth Symes brought an equality challenge against the Canadian Income Tax Act, arguing that her childcare costs were a business expense. The case ignited public controversy. Was Symes disadvantaged on the basis of gender, or unfairly privileged on the basis of class? This book seeks answers to those questions through close attention to the Symes case, where class and gender interests clashed over the tax treatment of childcare. It looks at the history of legislative and litigative struggles, the dynamics of courtroom discourse, and the influence of broad social debates about children and the public/private divide. It reveals how frequently the rhetoric of choice, responsibility, and selfishness is invoked in response to women's attempts to place issues of childcare on the public agenda.

About the author

Awards

  • Winner, Harold Adams Innis Prize, Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Science

Contributor Notes

Rebecca Johnson is an associate professor in the Faculty of Law, University of Victoria.

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