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THE BATTLE OVER CHILD CARE

Two dramatically different approaches to child care were proposed by the two major parties, the Liberals and the Conservatives during the recent federal election.

The Liberals had budgeted $5 billion to be given to the provinces over five years to create non-profit government operated child care spaces. An agreement was signed by the Federal Liberal government, the provinces and territories to this effect. One provision in this agreement, however, was that either party to the agreement could cancel it in one year's time i.e. July 1, 2007.

The Conservative child care policy on the other hand, provides that $1,200.00 to be given annually to parents for each child under six years of age. That is, the Conservative policy is to fund the child not the institution. The Conservative child care policy also included funding to businesses and others to create 125,000 new child care spaces whether private, non-profit or for-profit child care.

Mr. Harper has placed his child care policy in the budget so that it is now a matter of confidence, and if the budget is defeated, then a new election must be called.

The three opposition parties are not in a strong political position to have another election, especially the Liberal party which is badly in debt and is in the middle of a leadership race, which will not be decided until December 2, 2006. Also, the opposition does not want to go on record as opposing grants to families - it creates bad political optics for them. However, the opposition is adamant that the federal-provincial agreements should continue to provide government operated non-profit child care throughout the country. Mr. Harper intends to end the agreements by July 1, 2007 as permitted by the agreement. The three opposition parties claim they will fight this. Whether they will actually do so is uncertain.

Child Care Lobbyists Counter Attacks

The day care lobbyists have now launched a counter-attack against the Conservative child care plan. In this they have been ably assisted by the media who are obligingly repeating the deliberate misrepresentation about child care put forth by the child care lobbyists. For example, they argue that 72% of women are in the paid work force and "need" child care. However, this statistic includes women working from home, those working in family businesses with or without salary, women on maternity leave, women working part-time even for as little as one hour per week, women receiving unemployment insurance, women looking for work, etc. Most of these women however do not require child care services at all. Moreover, according to a Vanier Family Institute Study in 2005, those who do require such services rate institutional child care as their fifth choice in child care. A parent or family member looking after the child is their first choice in child care. (SEE REALity, Propaganda on Child Care, March / April, 2005)

Most of the organized opposition to the Conservative child care plan is coming from child care workers and lobbyists who have been funded by the Women's Programme Status of Women since 1983. That is, millions of tax payer's dollars have supported their persistent lobbying for a national child care plan. For example, we learned from material obtained under the Access to Information Act that child care lobbyists have received over $1,362,209 from the Women's Programme, between 1992 and 2002. And in the fiscal year 2004 - 2005, they received a further $483,713. This latter grant was made at the time the former Liberal government was negotiating with the provinces and territorial governments for a national child care programme. Child care lobbyists, who have the most to gain from a national child care plan, as its implementation would place them on the government's payroll, with all its security and benefits, are now working full tilt, with taxpayers' money, to defeat the Conservative child care plan.

A very significant point that is seldom mentioned is that the $5 billion promised by the Liberal government over five years is only the cost of starting up the programme, not the total cost of such a program. In 1986, the Report of the Task Force on Child Care, estimated that the cost of a national child care program would be $11.32 billion annually. In 1999, a leaked Federal discussion paper from the Department of Health concluded that such a program would cost, at that time, $12 to $15 billion annually. A national child care programme would therefore be an ever increasing drain on future federal budgets, much like our medicare system. Is this what the Canadian taxpayers want? We don't think so.

Please write your M.P. and request that he\she vote for the Conservative plan of $1,200.00 annually to parents with a child six years of age and under. Very importantly, also request that the Liberal government's agreement with the provinces and Territories on child care be cancelled by July 1, 2007.

Please write:
Your M.P.
c/o House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

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