I'd like to go back to the example that you gave, Ms. Lysack. You compare this subsidy with the idea of giving postsecondary students $10,000 and telling them that now they'll have to make do on their own, find the educational services they need and try to find their way through the labyrinth of the education system.
I mention that in order to go back to the Quebec child care services model, the early childhood centres. I was there at their birth, I saw them grow, and I also saw the children who attended them. We've acquired experience that shows us the benefits of those services for the children who are now of school age.
You know that, in our child care services, we also have technicians who are trained not only to take care of children, but also to stimulate them, socialize them and even detect deficiencies or difficulties, already at that age, so that, when they reach preschool age, we can help them function better.
I think it's important to establish or put in place a universal child care system. What we're told and what we now notice is that there is a significant increase in the number of family child care services. I believe we noted a 54% increase between 2001 and 2003, and the costs vary among certain areas and certain regions, just as service can vary. In my view, it's important for the welfare of the children to ensure a certain degree of universality in the services we offer. Quebec's early childhood centres are a good model for the delivery of services to children.