CHILD CARE CASH HELPS

People who are criticizing the federal Conservatives for doling out $ 3 billion in beefed- up contributions to parents with younger children perhaps feel they have good reason for their cynicism. With an election looming, the cheques, expected to begin arriving in the mail on Monday, are certain to be welcomed by their recipients.

The bigger matter, however, is whether such payments are good public policy. The transfers — which were included in the last budget — amount to $ 160 each month for each child under the age of six and $ 60 for youth between the ages of six and 17.

“The Conservatives are deficit- financing a pre- election candy toss to try and buy people with their own money,” Liberal finance critic Scott Brison said earlier this week of the Harper government’s initiative.

Brison, a former Conservative who left the party to the join the Liberals, misses the point of the Tories’ initiative.

Granted, families are by no means the only contributors to Canada’s success. Entrepreneurs, volunteers, farmers, seniors, public servants, immigrants, the military, labourers, scientists and social activists immediately come to mind as some of the groups that deserve credit for our nation’s achievements and prosperity.

But it can still be safely argued that solid families are one of the enduring building blocks of society. They come in many forms and sizes, but families are still how we hope to form young minds for the many challenges they’ll face and to prepare them to become caring, productive members of society.

Some observers have argued the Tories would have been wiser to simply reduce the amount of tax collected, rather than sending cheques through the mail. To such critics, we’d point out the Tories have chopped two percentage points off the GST since coming to power and have demonstrated a commitment to tax reduction.

The federal treasury provides support for many Canadians in need of assistance, including seniors, who, independent of the Canada Pension Plan, can count on Old Age Security after they’ve moved on from their working lives. There’s no reason such compassion shouldn’t extend to parents, who invariably can use a little extra money to help with the cost of raising the next generation of Canada’s workforce and taxpayers. They can use the money as they best see fit each month — to cover some of the day- today bills, to finance child care, to save for a rainy day or plan for their child’s post- secondary education.

The Harper Tories deserve credit for extending a hand to parents.