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When government creates a committee to investigate a situation as important as child care, it should carefully consider the recommendations that are delivered. Instead, Ottawa sat on such a report for more than three months, making it available to the public only upon pressure from advocates, opposition and the media.
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That's an unsatisfactory outcome for a process that began with much fanfare and hoopla in September, when the nine-panel expert committee was created to help shape the Conservative government's child-care policy.
Theirs was no easy task -- to advise on the best ways of improving access to high-quality child-care options. The committee returned with a thorough document in January that focused on actions within federal jurisdiction.
Unfortunately, the report appears destined to collect dust on a backroom shelf. That's shameful, as it contains many ideas worth debating, including ones that give today's parents better choices around child care.
That would be an improvement on the Conservative government's $1,200-a-year universal payment, which is little more than a baby bonus for stay-at-home moms.
The universal plan doesn't even begin to cover babysitting, never mind high-quality care for those families who choose to -- or must -- work. That's hardly real choice.
Among the recommendations, the committee urged decreasing demand for existing space by extending parental benefits to 21/2 years. It says working grandparents should also be entitled to a 60-day leave. And both parents should be allowed to take leave and receive benefits, instead of splitting the time.
Such initiatives are all good for the children, the ones who count most.
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In short, the committee has produced a report that very much reflects a value Canadians cherish in our society: investing in the kind of child care that will produce healthy, stable and well-adjusted adults.
Instead of acting on the recommendations, the Harper government announced in the last federal budget it would hand the responsibility of creating 25,000 spaces per year to the provinces. The jurisdictional move is good; the absence of federal action, disappointing.
For a committee initially accused of being biased against public, not-for-profit spaces, it came back with a fair and balanced document.
It focused on children's needs and ensuring they get met, regardless of who is doing the caring. It put children ahead of ideology.
The Harper government should pull it off the shelf and give it a close read.
- reprinted from the Calgary Herald