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Quebec was touted in a national survey yesterday as the model for other provinces to aspire to in developing policies to help parents balance work and family life.
But it won't be for much longer, warned the Parti Quebecois - the architect of most of the province's family-friendly policies - since the Liberal government is gutting public services geared to families.
Measures such as hiking the cost of day care to $7 and cracking down on absenteeism at child care centres to save money are hurting families, opposition leader Bernard Landry lamented.
Compiled from data collected in a Health Canada survey of 32,000 workers, the report found that employees across the country complain bosses talk about the importance of balancing home and work but don't back it up with polices and practices.
The one exception is Quebec, which has the most family and employee friendly practices.
Ontarians work long hours and are the highest paid in Canada, but are the most unhappy, depressed, least satisfied with their jobs and most likely to want to quit. In comparison, employees in Atlantic Canada work the longest and hardest but are the happiest with their jobs and lives in general.
Claude Bechard, Quebec's employment, social solidarity and family minister, said his government is only going to make life better for families. The PQ's policies ignored the needs of many, he said.