Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to all the witnesses for being here this afternoon.
As an MP coming from Quebec, I am fascinated with some of the testimony that I'm listening to this afternoon on national child care.
If you want to talk about data and statistics, Quebec has probably the largest participation of women in the workforce, and a lot of that is because of our child care. Not only that, there are so many other jurisdictions that are looking to the Quebec model because it does work so well. If we want women to participate in the workforce, then we have to make absolutely certain that there is safe, affordable day care, and the Quebec model certainly demonstrates that it could be done. In fact, the U.S. is looking at the Quebec model to see how they can implement a similar program in their jurisdiction.
All you have to do is ask one of my friends. She and her husband were transferred from Montreal to Toronto, and instead of paying $10 a day, they're now paying $60 a day. It would be interesting to speak to families who have been directly affected just by simply moving from Montreal to Toronto, which I think is a great segue into my next question.
Sean Strickland, it's nice to see you again. I'm happy to see you here. I am wondering if you or Mr. Kucheran could speak on your support of the child care program and how a program like this will assist your members.