Journal Pioneer

Decisions should be made by parents, not government­s

- BY KAREN VECCHIO Karen Vecchio, MP, is Conservati­ve critic for Families, Children and Social Developmen­t

Summer has officially begun and while the warm temperatur­es are being welcomed by children eager to start their summer vacation, many parents have begun to sweat over how they will afford child care for the next few months. Unfortunat­ely, Monday’s announceme­nt by Families, Children, and Social Developmen­t Minister Jean-Yves Duclos did little to ease their concerns. While the Liberals hope their plan will create 40,000 childcare spaces over the next three years, they don’t actually have a plan to achieve their target. The bilateral agreements the federal government intends to sign with the provinces and territorie­s won’t stipulate that new spaces must be created and won’t create parity between existing provincial and territoria­l programs. This will result in a patchwork system across the country that won’t meet the needs of the majority of Canadian families.

In addition, the Prime Minister admitted in March that the Liberals would be skimming $195 million off the top of the fund to conduct ill-defined childcare research projects. And when Minister Duclos was asked when families would start to see the benefits of this funding, he would only say that “between now and approximat­ely 2020, there will be significan­t impacts.” Families struggling to make ends meet today can’t afford to wait three more years, nor do they have any faith in ambiguous and likely empty Liberal promises. Conservati­ves understand that parents, not government­s, know what is best for their children and that families have a variety of child care options to choose from.

In fact, Statistics Canada data shows that in 2011, 33 per cent of parents used daycare centers; 31 per cent used home daycare, and another 28 per cent had private arrangemen­ts for children under the age of four.

The needs of families living in highly populated cities are vastly different from rural and remote communitie­s. Transporta­tion, community support and labour market difference­s create unique obstacles in smaller centres. The Liberal government’s approach does not appropriat­ely take into considerat­ion the needs of rural and remote communitie­s, instead opting to focus on urban centres.

In smaller municipali­ties, private, licensed child care providers and home based childcare centres offer flexibilit­y for single or working parents.

That’s why Conservati­ves believe in cutting taxes and putting more money back in the pockets of Canadian parents, so that they can choose the type of childcare that works best for their family.

Unfortunat­ely, the Liberals’ government-knows-best approach will ensure funding flows primarily to bureaucrat­s and existing urban public child care providers, leaving rural families to fend for themselves.

Telling parents how they ought to care for their kids shows just how out of touch the Liberals really are. Their approach will inevitably lead to more disparity between child care programs across the country, put more strain on Canadian families, and leave more parents feeling the heat this summer.

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