Good morning.
The Manitoba Child Care Association is a non-profit, entirely membership-funded organization incorporated in 1974. We have 3,800 members. We're the largest provincial child care organization in Canada and an affiliate member of the Canadian Child Care Federation.
In 2005, 70.8% of women aged 25 to 54 with children under six participated in Manitoba's workforce. Licensed early learning and child care services in all corners of Manitoba have very long waiting lists, as Susan has just illustrated, but Manitoba has the licensed space for only 15% of children. Parents on waiting lists have chosen regulated child care. Most will never actually use their choice of service.
In 2002, the Government of Manitoba developed a five-year plan for child care designed to first increase the child care workforce and then to significantly expand the number of licensed spaces. Good progress has been made, using a combination of provincial and federal funds. That progress and any future development of licensed child care in Manitoba is now seriously compromised with the cancellation of the funding agreement on early learning and child care, and termination of federal funds in 2007.
To ensure that children and families are supported, to ensure that our citizens are healthy and have the right skills for their own benefit and the benefit of their employers, to ensure that our businesses are competitive, and to ensure that our nation has the infrastructure it requires for its citizens and businesses, the Manitoba Child Care Association makes the recommendations that follow for program spending in the upcoming budget.
The Government of Canada must work in partnership with the provinces and territories to create an overarching early learning and child care agreement for a national child care system, including equitable funding for aboriginal child care services.
By 2020, federal funding for early learning and child care services should reach 1% of GDP through scheduled increases and annual increments.
The child care space initiative must include real dollars to create real sustainable spaces that are regulated, inclusive, accessible, community-based, and not for profit.
Income support programs such as the universal child care benefit or a tax credit should not be confused with child care services, and the federal government should not consider any of them a substitute for the national early learning and child care system.
I have more. They're all in our brief.