EXCERPTS

Prime Minister Paul Martin says his federal Liberals would more than double their spending on child care to $11 billion through 2015.

In the 2004 election, the Liberals promised $5 billion over five years, but Martin says he wants to make child care a permanent part of the country's social benefits system.

He says the Liberals would commit an additional $6 billion when the first allotment runs out.
He says the program would stand the test of time and respect regional interests.

Martin is raising the child-care ante after Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said a Tory government would give families $1,200 a year for every pre-school child to spend as they see fit.

The prime minister says he's committed to government-supported child care and Harper is not.

- reprinted from the Toronto Star