Madam Speaker, I rise today in the House as the Bloc Québécois critic for families, children and social development, but also as a woman, mother, worker and, naturally, Quebecker, to discuss what I believe to be the government's key measure in this budget, the federal child care program. However, we should not be blinded by this program, nor should it cloud our critical thinking.
In 2021, it makes no sense, whether we consider it from a feminist, economic, educational or other viewpoint, that a mother or a father has to make the impossible decision between starting a family or staying in the workforce. It is our responsibility and our duty, as citizens first and foremost, to ensure that children and their parents have what they need to thrive and freedom from want. Child care services should be available to all for the benefit of all.
Quebec realized this decades ago. It has already been 25 years since we decided to expand our social safety net by introducing a quality and, above all, universal child care system, known as the network of early childhood centres, or CPEs, in Quebec.
I will give a brief history. In 1997, Quebec developed an innovative family policy that led to the creation of a family allowance, a parental insurance plan, and educational and day care services for young children. The day care network was championed by women leaders, feminists, visionary leaders and, most importantly, I cannot not mention our former premier Pauline Marois, who was then the minister for families and children. I humbly commend her today and sincerely thank her on behalf of all Quebeckers and all those she inspired and continues to inspire.
To get back to the subject at hand, Quebec's family policy, centred around CPEs, had three objectives: ensure fairness through universal support for families and increased assistance for low-income families, help parents balance their parental and professional responsibilities, and foster child development and equality of opportunity.
It is possible to reconcile those two objectives: to promote parents' economic activity and to ensure equal opportunity by providing all children in Quebec with a quality early learning environment, since those years are crucial in a child's development. This is not an impossible feat, and Quebec has made that abundantly clear. It was with these ideals in mind and by putting children at the heart of our choices, as the title of our child-focused policy at the time indicates, that Quebec implemented its child care system in the late 1990s.
I am a mother of three, and I have to say that my children greatly benefited from that system, as did I, my family and all of society. This child care system quickly proved its worth. Let us remember that, once it was implemented, Quebec mothers quickly caught up with and then surpassed Canada's average participation rate. The overwhelming effectiveness of this child care system and its immeasurable value to Quebec society made it a model, not only for Canada but also for other countries. I therefore have to admit that the budget presented by the Minister of Finance is quite right in praising the merits of our Quebec child care system and indicating that the Quebec model will serve as the foundation and model for the federal program.
That said, while I am certainly empathetic and happy for parents in other provinces, which will be able to follow Quebec's lead toward a more egalitarian society thanks to this investment, I have to admit that I have two major concerns about the federal government's announcement.
As I have said, Quebec chose long ago to invest in its children. The experience Quebec has gained over the past 25 years quickly made it the foremost expert in this area. We are proud and rather protective of that.
What worries me is the federal government's systematic tendency to use its spending power to encroach on areas under the jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces. Family policies and all related programs fall exclusively under the jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces.
Not that I would ever need to, but if I did, I might take comfort in the government's constant attempts to take over our powers and interfere in matters that are none of its business if I thought it had any idea of what to do in its own sandbox and did not have way too much sand in the first place.
I would like the government to give Quebeckers their tax dollars. They know how to spend it and govern themselves. We are not short on ideas. We even dream of having our own country.
What also worries me, aside from this question of “everyone in their own sandbox”, which will have to be addressed at some point, is that this desire to colonize our jurisdictions might end up being more than just an idea. These so-called national strategies, whether dealing with long-term care or mental health, to speak only of this budget, are intended to Canadianize what is unique to Quebec and, worse still—although I do not really believe there can be anything worse—they are intended to substitute inexperience, even ignorance, for experience and knowledge. Quebec knows, in every sense of the word, what is good for Quebec.
Ottawa, of course, plans to reach an asymmetrical agreement with Quebec, an agreement that the Prime Minister of Canada has quaintly described as pretty much unconditional. As Alfred de Musset wrote 200 years ago, and this is still today an apt metaphor, a door must be either open or shut. The Prime Minister likes to say one thing and its opposite, and, logically speaking, that is just nonsense.
If the Prime Minister has no idea of how to handle his own jurisdiction or is not thinking clearly when he tries to interfere in others' jurisdictions, if only with respect to this asymmetrical agreement, I cannot even imagine what he has in mind for child care other than to hold the provincial governments hostage. He is placing the burden on them and polishing up his image in a budget that, make no mistake, is the announcement of an electoral platform, if not an imminent election.
In closing, I would like to reiterate that I am happy for the improved quality of life for Canadian children and their parents that a child care system would hopefully offer and I am sure that Quebec will be generous enough to share its expertise.
However, at the risk of repeating myself, it is imperative that Quebec gets the compensation it deserves—and I would even say more, the compensation it is due—free from conditions. Freedom is unconditional. We are not talking about “pretty much free from conditions”, but “free from all conditions”. That is what we are asking.
The Bloc Québécois unreservedly supports the National Assembly of Quebec, which unanimously called on the federal government to give Quebec its fair share with no conditions. Any other scenario is unacceptable. It would be an affront, and not the first one, to Quebeckers' autonomy and their right to make their own decisions. We decided that our institutions are secular, that our common language is French and that Bills 21 and 101 represent who we are.
It is up to the National Assembly of Quebec, that is, Quebeckers and no one else, not even and above all not the Prime Minister of Canada, to decide what will happen with our child care centres. Quebeckers can—