That is actually something that the child care movement has been calling for for many years now—to actually legislate child care. I think that goes back to that point that care is a right, but also to shift our economic thinking around what is an investment and what is a cost. The benefits of a public child care system in Canada would be tremendous. It would generate government revenues up to $29 billion, therefore paying for itself. It would increase employment for 725,000 women in Canada and increase GDP by $100 billion a year in 10 years from now, which is how long it would take to set up such a system.
I think it's really time to stop thinking of these kinds of investments as a drain on the budget and see them as an investment that will help us tackle these issues systematically rather than trying to leave it to market forces or to individual benefactors.