Mr. Speaker, in September 2000 the federal Liberal government unveiled its early childhood development strategy amid much fanfare that finally families and children would have access to quality child care programs. Eighteen months later Statistics Canada now reports that the cost of child care has risen sharply. Worse, 90% of Canadian children under six years are in unregulated care and only seven of 13 provincial and territorial jurisdictions have put federal money into child care.
It is crystal clear that the $400 million per year for five years earmarked by the feds is far short of the $2.2 billion per year that is required. The federal government gets a failing grade from kids and parents. Instead of comprehensiveness, universality, accessibility, quality and accountability we received useless principles and every province for itself.
I ask the HRDC minister today, what happened to all those Liberal promises for child care? What happened to the 150,000 spaces to be created each year? Why are kids always at the--