Mr. Speaker, seven years ago today, the Prime Minister cancelled the child care agreements with the provinces. The result is that the OECD ranks Canada 24th out of 25 countries when it comes to early childhood services. Only 20% of children have access to regulated child care and very few new spaces are being created, leaving parents with difficult choices. Child care should not be an afterthought or a luxury. In fact, a federal court ruled just this week that employers have to accommodate reasonable child care requests.
When European countries invested in child care, they found that each dollar spent returned two more to the economy. However, here in Canada, the Liberals and Conservatives just do not get it. Three straight prime ministers have now broken their promises to create high quality regulated child care, instead squandering billions of dollars on corporate tax giveaways.
Only New Democrats are steadfast in their support for universal, accessible, affordable and licensed child care. For us, early childhood services are an investment, not an expense.