Source:
National Post
Format:
Article
Publication Date:
9 Dec 2006
AVAILABILITY
See text below.
EXCERPTS
Re: The facts on child care, Dec. 8; A child care plan that deserves to die, Dec. 5
For all the umbrage taken, the issues outlined in my Dec. 5 column, "A day care plan that deserves to die," remain. Stephane Dion will need to find the money for a national day care system. In Quebec, limited government funds are poured into a day care system of mediocre quality, one that wealthier parents access more easily than lower income earners.
…
There is solid evidence to show Canadians prefer that family or people close to home care for their children. Failing that, every parent should choose the care that works for them. It is disingenuous to claim a national day care system offers choices. Such a system, based on an OECD understanding of the world, is interested in a "full-employment economy." The idea is the state gets more workers, while they care for your kids. Taxes go up and, in time, a high and false demand is created for the one day care system remaining -- and the only one parents can afford. So much for choice.
There was one error in my piece, for which I apologize. I sourced one citation incorrectly, attributing the words of the OECD 2004 Canada Country Note to Martha Friendly. The correct source was a 2006 Briefing Note, called "Early learning and child care: How does Canada measure up?" This briefing note is by Martha Friendly and in it she cites the OECD.
Andrea Mrozek, Ottawa
- reprinted from the National Post
Re: The facts on child care, Dec. 8; A child care plan that deserves to die, Dec. 5
For all the umbrage taken, the issues outlined in my Dec. 5 column, "A day care plan that deserves to die," remain. Stephane Dion will need to find the money for a national day care system. In Quebec, limited government funds are poured into a day care system of mediocre quality, one that wealthier parents access more easily than lower income earners.
…
There is solid evidence to show Canadians prefer that family or people close to home care for their children. Failing that, every parent should choose the care that works for them. It is disingenuous to claim a national day care system offers choices. Such a system, based on an OECD understanding of the world, is interested in a "full-employment economy." The idea is the state gets more workers, while they care for your kids. Taxes go up and, in time, a high and false demand is created for the one day care system remaining -- and the only one parents can afford. So much for choice.
There was one error in my piece, for which I apologize. I sourced one citation incorrectly, attributing the words of the OECD 2004 Canada Country Note to Martha Friendly. The correct source was a 2006 Briefing Note, called "Early learning and child care: How does Canada measure up?" This briefing note is by Martha Friendly and in it she cites the OECD.
Andrea Mrozek, Ottawa
- reprinted from the National Post
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