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Text of letter:
Your editorial accurately portrays the Ontario government's
"penny-wise, pound foolish" treatment of the province's childcare
crisis. But their insistence that the mess is Ottawa's ("We can't step
in every time the federal government walks away from their
responsibilities") is most inaccurate on two counts.
First, authority over social policies including childcare is
clearly provincial -- deemed so under the 1867 Constitution Act.
Second, Prime Minister Harper's cancellation of the bilateral funding
agreements was so unique politically (not "every time") that Manitoba's
Family Services Minister called it "one of the biggest U-turns in
modern day social policy."
Yes, in 21st century Canada, an economically savvy federal
government that cared about people would provide significant childcare
funding to provinces in a national program similar to health care. But
until then, if the Ontario government evades its responsibilities,
children, families and the economy will bear the brunt.
Martha Friendly, Executive Director, Childcare Resource and Research Unit