Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you for being here.
I get the sense from looking at your presentation that as a champion and as a department, you've worked very hard at gender-based analysis. I see the checklist that the deputy reported on in regard to “Building Blocks for Success” and certainly, as I say, the work that you've done. But ultimately it comes down to the minister and the policy of the government, and I think that's where my frustration sets in.
I'm going to ask you some questions. I understand the division between what you do and the political master that makes the final decision.
I wanted to refer to the document on the 2007 analysis. I'm at the business tax portion, the last two paragraphs, just above sales and excise tax. It talks about the $100 per month child tax benefit, which has been featured quite prominently in the 2007 budget. I wondered whether, in looking at that, the government considered the real cost of licensed or even casual child care for a family. Do you know what those costs are?
Secondly, what impact does that $100 a month have on single working mothers or caregivers? We know a lot of senior women are providing child care because it's very expensive in licensed places.
I also wonder why the government decided to give a tax credit and then decided to tax back that $100.
The last piece of it talks about the measure that would encourage businesses to create additional child care spaces in the workplace. How many have been created, and where were they created? Is there documentation available that looks at those child care spaces, and can it come to the committee?