Excerpts from the open letter: On Nov. 1 and 2, there is an opportunity to leave Canada's laggard status in the dust. Federal Social Development Minister Ken Dryden will meet with his provincial/territorial counterparts to discuss how his government can make good on its election promise to create a Canada-wide system of early learning and child care. Minister Dryden, you seem seized by your task, viewing it as the next great Canadian social initiative, as significant as the establishment of Medicare or public education. We applaud your vision and hope it can rise above the usual jurisdictional wrangling. You and your counterparts are charged with the need to transform Canada's sorry patchwork of services into a publicly funded system of early learning and child care. While the additional $5-billion over 5 years committed by the Prime Minister is insufficient to meet the needs of every child, it is a very important start. How it is spent will determine the look of the new national program to come.