Madam Chair, I would like to begin by thanking the minister. Budget 2021 is a transformational document that will allow us to continue the fight against COVID-19, help us punch out of this pandemic recession and, importantly, ensure that everyone gets to benefit from the growth that we expect to see on the back end of this pandemic.
The pandemic, quite obviously, has not impacted everyone the same. If I can be blunt, there are a lot of people who look like I do who have fared better than many Canadians. Indigenous Canadians, Black Canadians and women have suffered disproportionately when it comes to the financial impact COVID-19 has had on their lives and careers.
The minister spent a portion of her speech focused on the importance of Canada's first early learning and child care strategy and that will be the focus of my comments and question.
From my perspective, there is both a moral and an economic imperative that justify a game-changing investment in excess of $30 billion in this child care and early childhood education strategy. It is clear to me that women more often than men choose to stay home at the beginning of their career to provide care for young children. The economic equation that a lot of families consider understandably justifies their decision to have one spouse stay home in a two-parent household when they look at the cost of care.
I have friends who are spending $4,000 a month for just two kids in child care in some Canadian cities. It may not be that expensive at home, but when a lot of people in my community are looking at whether they can afford the cost of care, they are choosing not to work even though they may want to.
From my perspective, the opportunity to provide care will give more families the choice to work should they want to. It would help more women fill gaps that exist in the labour market, which will boost productivity. However, importantly, there are solutions to business problems and scientific developments that may be locked in the mind of someone who is choosing to stay home because they cannot afford the cost of care, and we are all losing out.
Does the minister see the economic case that would allow this investment to pay for itself? Also, does she believe that having a gender-balanced cabinet and a task force on women in the economy, made up of women from Canada, actually helped influence the arrival of this important and game-changing decision?