Re: Day care rebuttal [2], Dec.9; The facts on child care [3], Dec.8; A day care plan that deserves to die [4], Dec.5



In response to my Dec. 8 counterpoint, the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada's Andrea Mrozek has not played fair. First, her so-called "rebuttal" does not in fact rebut any of the points my counterpoint made: that she misrepresented the Vanier Institute of the Family's research; misrepresented public opinion polls regarding attitudes toward early learning and child care; and &em; astonishingl, in light of the evidence &em; misattributed the belief that "childcare centres are better at raising children than their own flesh and blood" &em; to child care advocates.



Second, while she apologizes fro her "one error" of incorrectly attributing to me a statement from an OECD report, she incorrectly continues to source this quote to a 2006 report I authored. Even more seriously, she fails to withdraw her accusation that I wrote the OECD's Canada Country Ntoe. However, one thing she says is without error: Stéphane Dion will need to find the money for a national early learning and child care system. Why? Because Canadians want it and it's the right thing to do for children and families.



Martha Friendly, co-ordinator of the Childcare Resource and Research Unit, University of Toronto



- reprinted from the National Post