Mr. Speaker, just to be clear, I was not quoting from a letter. I was quoting from a newspaper article that appeared in the Lake Cowichan Gazette on Wednesday, February 14, 2007. The newspaper reporter talked about the cuts in provincial funding by $2 per day per child aged three to five and $4 per day per child under three years old.
I have a couple of points around this. First, I wonder where the plan was to create child care spaces. We do not see a plan to create child care spaces. We do not see new child care spaces being created.
We know that the $100 a month is taxable. We know that, on average, parents will end up with $80 a month and many parents are in a position where that does not remotely cover the true cost of child care.
I would argue that what we have been asking for is a national child care program with concrete funds assigned to it, time lines attached to it and involvement from the child care community to ensure the plan is adequate. I would argue that is what we have always asked for and promoted and we will continue to advocate for it.