Mr. Speaker, according to a recent study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Hamilton has the eighth most expensive child care rates in the country.
These findings likely come as no surprise to the many families in Hamilton that pay up to $1,200 a month for each child in child care. These astonishing rates are making it harder and harder for families to make ends meet.
The Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction CEO, Tom Cooper, has said that without access to child care services, many parents and children will not be able to escape the cycle of poverty. Families in Hamilton know they need a child care plan that works for them.
As the Hamilton Spectator made clear in an editorial earlier this month:
Income splitting won't do it. Neither will increasing the universal child tax benefit. Those are Band-Aid solutions that don't address real disparities...
That is why many people in my community of Hamilton Centre are excited about the NDP's $15-a-day child care plan. They know this plan is an investment in their family, their community, and an investment in our Canada.