Mr. Speaker, one of the best ways to tackle the prosperity gap is to ensure that people have good skills. I point out that in a world when labour shortages are not only looming but are actually here. We find that in many sectors wages are rising and rising very dramatically. The key is to ensure that people who do not have adequate training or whose skills are no longer relevant get the training.
That is why we have invested as heavily as we have. We see that as being a key to growth. It is not just training. It is also post-secondary education and I have touched on the large investments we have made there.
With respect to the issue of child care, I point out to my friend that we have a different view of it. We ran in the election on a particular platform that included providing choice to parents for child care and we were elected on that platform. We have implemented the universal child care benefit, which will benefit almost two million children in the current year.
I note that the leader of the Liberal Party says he would take that away. He does not seem to believe that parents should get that funding and that speaks volumes about his own lack of faith in the ability of parents to raise their children. Therefore, I think the member has some answering to do to explain why the Liberal Party feels that way.
I also want to point out that it was the deputy leader of the Liberal Party, Sheila Copps, who said not long ago that the previous government did not create any spaces with its plan. I note that since we made our investment of $250 million, bringing the total benefit to the provinces every year to $1.1 billion, the provinces have announced the creation of thousands and thousands of new spaces. We are happy to work cooperatively with them to produce those kinds of results.