Madam Speaker, it was clearly expressed in the election platform and particularly by the Prime Minister, that early learning and child care were a priority for the federal government. The government confirmed that by making a commitment in the Speech from the Throne in October, 2004.
We have promised to invest $5 billion over five years to lay the foundations for a truly national system of early learning and child care, with the help of the provinces and territories.
As we stated in the throne speech, we intend to collaborate with the provinces, including Quebec, and the territories, as we have in the past, in order to create a new national initiative that will lay the foundations for a national system.
On November 2, as the hon. member knows, the Minister of Social Development held a very productive meeting with his provincial and territorial counterparts. They laid the foundation for what will eventually become a national system that will ensure better access to quality child care services for Canadian and Quebec families and all children everywhere in the country.
They also agreed on the need to establish a long-term vision based on common values, measurable objectives, and well-defined accountability. All the ministers agreed that early learning and child care must be based on the principles of quality, universality, accessibility and development.
They also agreed on the over-arching need for provincial and territorial flexibility. We have found a way of working in partnership with Quebec, as in the past, while respecting its jurisdiction over childcare and we will continue to find a way.
I would like to remind this House and the hon. member that in 2003 we were very successful in putting in place, jointly, a multilateral framework on early learning and childcare. Quebec was sitting at the table when we were having very important discussions around a system to be put in place. Although Quebec did not participate in the agreement, it does receive its share of funds through the Canada social transfer.
Under this initiative, Quebec will receive $247 million over five years. The new national program will also give the provinces and territories the necessary flexibility to plan and implement activities based on their own needs and priorities.
Quebec's childcare system, as everyone knows, is exemplary, and I can attest to that, being from Quebec, and our ambition is to have one throughout Canada.
I think that we could all benefit from their experience and that, with the substantial investment of new funding by the federal government, we could again help Quebec deal with some of the pressures it is facing in developing its own system.
We have been successful in the past and I am confident we will continue to be.
Obviously, for us to live in a federation like this one, the federal government has to work closely with its provincial and territorial partners because, together, we want to ensure a better future for our most precious resource: our children.