Mr. Chair, I would like to continue with the same line of questioning. I have heard the minister say on many occasions that this is a program that will be universally accessible in a similar way to public education. If I can speak in the context of Ontario, which is my home province and that of the minister, we see now that the Ontario government is moving to focus its day care and early learning opportunities within the elementary school system. It is taking JK and SK and building day care into the schools.
I think the point of universality is that something can be theoretically available to everyone, which if it is run in a school, it is. However, people who choose not to use it still have to pay for it. Stay at home parents could choose not to use it. They are essentially bearing the cost twice, once through their taxes to pay for the program for everybody else and then they pay for it out of their own pocket through lost income if one of the two parents chooses to stay at home.
My fear is what we will have in Ontario is a program based in the school system which operates from 9 a.m. to 3 or 4 p.m. Monday to Friday, with summers off. In my riding, which is rural, I have many retail workers who work evenings, weekends and in the summer. I think for many people who are focused at least as much on the custodial child care and the cost of the custodial child care part of this equation, as they are to the early learning, they feel the system which we appear to be moving toward in Ontario will inherently discriminate against them.
It will work well for professionals who tend to work from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday, but it will not work well for shift workers or people who work irregular hours.
What seems to be in the process of being implemented in Ontario is not universal to everyone, is not accessible to everyone and ironically it will discriminate against many people who are in lower income levels because they work irregular hours. They feel that this system will not work for them. Not only will it not work for them, but they will end up paying for part of it through their taxes.
That is why we say that if the financial assistance flows through the parents and the parents have options to choose different choices, including full time professional care, then this would ensure that all parents would have access to some financial support for their child care costs.
I would appreciate it if the minister would comment on that.