When I started, I said that I would not hire a nanny because I did not want a nanny to replace me. I had decided that right from the beginning. There was a woman who lived close to me who spoke French fluently. There are a lot of francophones in Ottawa.
If we have a day care, it is thanks to Jeanne Sauvé, who was Speaker of the House. She started this over 30 years ago, but since then, the status of the day care has not been reviewed.
First of all, things have to be broadened. We have to have something for the younger ones, because it is harder to find someone to care for children between 0 and 3 years of age.
Afterwards, I think it would be easy to set up a list. The Speaker could perhaps review the hour when votes are held and extend the sittings in light of that. I am not saying that we should sit 24 hours a day, but we could perhaps sit until 8 p.m. It's a bit like the chicken and the egg. It also depends on the hours when the votes are held. Why not hold them until 9 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and invest a bit more money in the day care so that they could also take babies?
As for the nannies, the Speaker could easily keep a list of available persons for that.
At top speed, I'm sure they could have a list of available professionals who are available to do that on a short-term basis. I think that would be a nice way to supplement. If you didn't want to expand the garderie hours, it would be a way to supplement for the small number, because remember the garderie is also for all the employees too and not just the members of Parliament. The waiting list when I was there was two years to get in. Obviously it needs an expansion. It hasn't been touched in terms of the structure.