Thank you, Mr. Chair.
We are putting forth an amendment to clause 7, and this is the most important amendment that we could put forward on this bill.
We have just heard a powerful exchange about parents having choice in caring for their children and flexible options for ensuring that everybody has access to quality affordable child care.
We heard multiple testimonies from many witnesses about wait-lists and parents who are left out in the cold and that there are still a lot of winners and losers in this bill. Therefore, I would propose the following amendment, which replaces lines 4 to 9 on page 5 with the following:
(a) facilitate access to all types of early learning and child care programs and services regardless of the provider—such as those that are provided through traditional daycare centres, centres with extended, part-time or overnight care, nurseries, flexible and drop-in care, before- and after-school care, preschools and co-op child care, faith-based care, unique programming to support children with disabilities, home-based child care, nannies and shared nannies, au pairs, stay-at-home parents or guardians who raise their own children, or family members, friends or neighbours who provide care—that meet or exceed standards set by provincial governments or Indigenous governing bodies and respond to the varying needs of children and families while respecting the jurisdiction and unique needs of the provinces and Indigenous peoples;