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Prime Minister Mark Carney says the future of his predecessor’s promise of a national $10-a-day child-care program rests on talks with the provinces, as a deadline set by the Trudeau government passed on Tuesday without achieving that goal.
Former prime minister Justin Trudeau announced the program in 2021, setting a target of March 31, 2026, to have a national child-care program in place with fees at an average of $10-a-day. The initial plan included the creation of an additional 250,000 spaces.
The pledge was a signature policy for his government, made as the country was emerging from COVID-19 lockdowns and the Liberals were trying to spur workforce participation, especially for women. The Liberals committed nearly $30-billion for the plan, which involved signing five-year deals with all the provinces and territories.
So far, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut have brought their fees down to the $10-a-day benchmark, while Quebec – which has long offered a subsidized child-care program – was already there.
In Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, fees have been cut by 50 per cent or more, but are not at an average of $10 a day.
Mr. Carney was asked by reporters Tuesday about the state of the program and whether he still intended to meet the $10-a-day promise.
“We are standing four-square behind the importance of affordable national daycare,” he said. “It is a shared responsibility with the provinces.”
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Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu – who is responsible for the department – did not directly respond to a question on whether the program is considered too expensive to broaden out further.
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Martha Friendly, the director of the non-profit Childcare Resource and Research Unit, said the program has made a difference in people’s lives so far.
While the Trudeau Liberals used COVID-19 as the catalyst, the geopolitical instability caused by U.S. President Donald Trump ought to serve as a reason for the Carney Liberals to keep it going, she said.
“They’re so focused on the crazy international situation, because what we need is a solid economy in order to be sovereign from the United States,” she said.
“Do I think child care needs to be part of that? Yes. Do I think that they know that? I don’t know.”