The reason I asked that was because it actually does have that component in there, because the universal child care was folded into the CCB. I appreciate that, but that is one thing that was missing.
I want to go on to a quote. This is something that when we talk a lot about Quebec day care—I am a parent of five children, and I believe parental choice is still my number one priority. We talk about these facilities and the subsidies and a variety of things. Back in 2014, there was a debate within the provincial government. They had a look at making some changes, specifically because greater than 50% of the families who were using child care had the opportunity to plan for it because they were the wealthier families. I quote:
Spots don't necessarily go to families who need it most. Because the very nature of universal childcare means that everyone is eligible, wealthier families inevitably occupy spots that could go to families in desperate need of affordable daycare. In fact, families with the highest annual incomes in the province are twice as likely to have a child enrolled in the universal program as compared to families earning the lowest incomes.
For me, that's an important fact, because we're still leaving out the people who need to have this financial support. They're on waiting lists that can be two to three years long as well.
When we're talking about this subsidy, I recognize it's not perfect. We realize there's going to be a child care framework that's going to be put forward by this government. Therefore, we need to make sure that it's going to be flexible, and it's going to be something that can be seen from coast to coast, even if you're living in a community of 300 people with the closest city 25 minutes or an hour away.
What do you see as something that's going to still be able to target...? I believe it's important to make sure that those people who need to get back in the workplace, and who need the financial assistance, still have these opportunities, and wealthier families are not taking these spots, because they're not getting these opportunities to go forward and for work.
How can we make a flexible plan that will work for communities of three million or 300, which will work and be flexible for people who, in my community, work a lot of shift work? What do we have there?
I'd like you both to speak to this and also, what do we do for workers? I'm thinking of a mother I know who puts her children to bed at 11 p.m. and comes home every morning at 7 a.m. How do we help families like hers who want their children to be home? She works the night shift and allows them to sleep in their own beds.
If you can come up with a formula for that, that would be awesome. Thanks.