Mr. Speaker, I am also a mother of two daughters.
The Government of Canada recognizes that parents play a very important role in raising their children. We are dedicated to helping them meet their responsibilities. We understand that the right mix of investments by governments and other partners can support parents and ensure that communities, workplaces and public institutions work together in a way that supports families with children.
The need for child care services is very real for Canadians, for reasons of economics, lifestyle or self-sufficiency. Many parents would prefer to stay home to raise their young children, but that option is often not a reality in today's society. There is one thing that the opposition is always forgetting, which is that 70% of children aged six months to five years live in families where both parents work or study, or where a single parent works or studies.
For these parents in particular, early childhood education and child care is a necessary and valuable choice, an option that can provide parents with the assurance that their children are growing up in a healthy and safe learning environment focussed on development.
As a result, the Government of Canada has made a commitment to provide parents with choices, and access to quality childcare and early childhood education facilities has become a real choice for parents.
This is a priority shared by all governments in Canada. At their meeting in Vancouver on February 11, the Minister of Social Development and his provincial and territorial counterparts reached consensus on the urgent need to put such programs in place throughout the country. All administrations were actively involved, because all of us, regardless of level of government, know that this is a choice our constituents want and need.
On February 23, 2005, the government announced it would invest $5 billion over five years. Of this amount, $700 million is available now for 2005-06, to fund the early learning and child care initiative, which will be developed in collaboration with the provinces and territories. As we continue our work on the final agreement, we will ensure that the provinces and territories have the flexibility they need to establish programs that best meet the needs of their citizens and that respect the common values to which the federal, provincial and territorial ministers agreed in November 2004.
In response to those for whom “choice” means a child-related tax break, it is important to note that the government's new commitment to early learning and child care is in addition to existing direct benefits and services for parents, which we have designed to ensure that all children have the best start possible in life and that families get the support they need, no matter what their circumstances or the choices they make.
In fact, through the Canada Child Tax Benefit and the National Child Benefit Supplement, the Canadian government is already providing billions of dollars in income support directly to low- and middle-income parents. This is something the opposition constantly forgets.
The total combined investment in the Canada Child Tax Benefit and the National Child Benefit Supplement is $7.7 billion. Contrary to what the member already said, families where one parent decides to remain at home can also take advantage of early learning programs funded by the federal, provincial and territorial governments, under the agreement on early childhood development and the multilateral framework on early learning and child care.
I would like to say--