EXCERPTS

Re: "Quebecers divided on $7 fee for day care" (Gazette, June 22). The remark attributed to me that "universality is one of the problems of Quebec's child-care system" was truncated so as to misrepresent what I said.

What I said was that to be universal, a child-care system must be both affordable for parents and provide a sufficient number of spaces.

In Sweden, for example, building up a supply of high-quality child care didn't happen overnight. Whereas Quebec set out to create a universal childcare system in 1990s, it is not yet universal because it does not yet provide enough spaces.

Despite a huge increase in the number of spaces in Quebec, recent elimination of capital funding and other cutbacks is likely to slow continued expansion.

Finally, I said that the goal of early learning and child care as a universal program is now the international standard with groups like the OECD leading in documenting why this is a valuable approach worthy of public financial support.

- reprinted from the Montreal Gazette