Debates of Jan. 30th, 2023

Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, we have been very clear throughout this process, with each of the agreements we have signed with the provinces and territories, that we are not here to overstep on jurisdiction and that we are not here to intervene. We are here to support existing systems that are in play.

The member across the way is correct that Quebec is the model. I know stories of families that moved to Montreal, to Quebec, when child care became available. Finally, we have a nationwide system, the aspiration and the desire. This is what this legislation is about. It is about really ensuring, for the next generations to come, that the model, and Quebec led the way in this model, stays in place.

We have also committed to continue that funding for Quebec for the spaces and the system it has created. I enjoyed being in Sainte-Justine not that long ago to speak to the experts who built out this system and the benefits of it. The member can be assured that it will continue.

[Lisa Marie Barron, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Madam Speaker, I am happy we are talking about this today. My own experience as a single parent is that I was working at a minimum wage trying to make ends meet and still, despite provincial subsidies, was unable to afford child care. My daughter is turning 20 on February 2 and my son is 15. This has been going on for generations and so many families are impacted by unaffordable and inaccessible child care.

We can celebrate that this is moving in the right direction, but we also need to look at why it has taken so many generations for us to get to where we are today and to finally be implementing child care.

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, the simple answer to my colleague is political will. That was the question I asked my colleagues in Quebec when I went to see 25 years of care. I asked, “How did you get it?” They said it was the political will and women. Women had been demanding this for over 50 years. We are here to tell them and to tell educators, families and children that it has arrived and it will continue.

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Madam Speaker, it truly is my pleasure to be speaking today about this transformative legislation. A year and a half ago, the first Canada-wide early learning and child care agreement was signed with the province of B.C., and today the federal government has signed agreements with all provinces and territories.

Making the Canada-wide early learning and child care system a reality is a momentous accomplishment. Too many families, for too long, have lacked access to affordable, high-quality and inclusive early learning and child care. Child care is a necessity and there is no question that it helps children in the long term. Early childhood educators set children up for success. They educate and build confidence in children, setting them on a path to success in school and life. This helps families thrive. That is why building a Canada-wide system matters. Most of us know that child care is expensive. Child care fees have placed a massive strain on the budgets of many families.

More than half a century ago, the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada called on the federal government to immediately begin working with provinces and territories to establish a national day care plan. We came close to achieving a national plan under former prime minister Martin, but it was dismantled by the Conservative government of Stephen Harper when it took office in 2006.

When I was vice-chair of the status of women committee in our study on the economic security of women, the number one issue we heard that was holding women back economically was access to affordable, quality child care. I'll quote from our report:

The lack of access to high-quality affordable childcare was identified as a significant barrier to women's economic security because women bear a disproportionate responsibility, compared to men, for the unpaid care of children. Witnesses spoke of societal expectations and workplace culture that assumes women are the primary caregivers for their children at home and that women be responsible for arranging childcare if they want to work.

The Committee heard that the provision of accessible, affordable childcare is a key element in promoting women's labour force attachment. Lack of access to childcare limits women's ability to seek education and training, limits women's opportunities to re-enter the workforce, hurts their ability to achieve professional goals, and leads many women to seek part-time and precarious employment.

Generations of Canadians have waited for their government to answer the call. Making the Canada-wide system a reality means we can now relieve some of the stress felt by families from coast to coast to coast.

When my son was born, it was tough financially. Back then, I got only three months' maternity leave, and when it was time to go back to work it was a tough decision. I almost did not go back, but thanks to a very generous boss I was able to. My son, Fraser, went to a terrific day care run by the Canadian Mothercraft society in downtown Toronto, in the newly opened BCE Place. It was an awesome day care, but no doubt about it, it was expensive. I do not know how families made it work financially with more than one child.

With the introduction of Bill C-35, families in Canada do not have to endure the hardship of finding affordable and inclusive high-quality child care. This is our government's commitment to maintain long-term federal funding for provinces and territories. All provinces and territories have already seen child care fees significantly reduced, and we are on track to achieve our goal of an average $10-a-day regulated early learning and child care by March 2026.

The Canada-wide early learning and child care system and this bill are the result of significant collaboration with provinces, territories and indigenous peoples. Since 2017, we have worked with our provincial and territorial partners to establish the multilateral early learning and child care, or ELCC, framework that sets out the long-term vision for child care in Canada. We negotiated bilateral agreements with the provinces and territories to increase access to child care across the country. We co-developed an indigenous ELCC framework that reflects the unique cultures, aspirations and needs of first nations, Inuit and Métis children and families across Canada, which was endorsed by and jointly released with the Assembly of First Nations, ITK, and the Métis National Council in 2018.

This proposed bill respects provincial and territorial jurisdiction, and respects and upholds indigenous rights, including the right to self-determination. We are not imposing any conditions or requirements on provincial and territorial governments, nor on indigenous peoples.

With this legislation, we would enshrine into law the federal government's continued commitment to working collaboratively with and supporting provincial, territorial and indigenous partners in their efforts to establish and maintain a Canada-wide system of early learning and child care. The national advisory council, which would be enshrined in the legislation, would provide advice to the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development on this important work.

Combined with other commitments, we are investing up to $30 billion over five years to make first-class early learning and child care affordable and accessible, and we are committed to continuing to work with our partners as the system matures and evolves. Our goal is simple and clear: We want to give children across the country, wherever they live, the best possible start in life.

From the beginning of the process, the Government of Canada has maintained that early childhood educators are key to the success of a high-quality early learning and child care system and deserve to have their work valued. We know our early childhood educators are dedicated and professional people. It is in all our best interest that we give early childhood educators and those contemplating a career in early childhood education the necessary incentives to support their growth and professional development. Early childhood educators are a pivotal part of the Canada-wide system. They deserve more for the critical work that they do with our children.

This legislation is not just about making life more affordable. All parents should have the opportunity to build both a family and a career. Parents, and especially mothers, have too often been denied the support they need to finish their education, participate in training, open businesses and maintain good jobs to provide for their families. Now parents would not have to choose between raising a family and having a career.

It is not simply a matter of being able to go out to work. It is also about the impact it has on women's careers and their ability to be entrepreneurs, as well as on their long-term earning capability. The longer that parents, especially moms, are out of the workforce, the harder it is for them to get back in and advance in a career with all the social and economic benefits that that brings.

Affordable high-quality child care is a feminist economic policy and a smart economic policy that would increase Canada's GDP by 1.2%, allowing for more women to return to the workforce. McKinsey Global Institute estimates that boosting women's participation in the workforce could add $150 billion to Canada's economy by 2026.

I remember crying tears of joy when the Minister of Finance announced a national child care plan in budget 2021 because I knew how transformational it would be. I remembered the financial challenges of child care 33 years ago and the challenging decision of whether to return to work being based solely on finances. As I knocked on doors in the 2021 election, I was concerned that the Conservative Party members had said that, if they were elected, they would scrap universal child care, which would have been absolutely devastating for families in Canada.

I am now a proud grandmother of the most perfect little boy. He started day care in November and is thriving there. His parents waited anxiously for a deal with the Province of Ontario to ensure their child care costs would be affordable for them. Needless to say, our family was overjoyed when the deal was signed and their child care costs have already been reduced by 50%, which means that wee Cameron is able to grow and learn at his day care, and his mom and dad can both work in meaningful employment.

With this bill, all of us in the House have the chance to do something that is going to make a difference for generations to come. It is my hope that we can swiftly pass this bill to ensure the longevity of the Canada-wide system, which would help all of Canada access high-quality, affordable and inclusive early learning and child care.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Madam Speaker, my concern with this bill is this: As a young widow, I had two young children, and I had no choice but to work to ensure they had a home to live in and food on the table. However, unfortunately I did not have the type of job that was nine to five, so I had difficulties finding a day care that was open as early as six o'clock in the morning, and some nights as late as 10 o'clock at night.

How does this bill address the needs of women in my previous profession to accommodate the opportunity for them to have $10-a-day child care?

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

Madam Speaker, the member's question is a very good one. Depending on what career women have, it may be difficult to access child care. That is why we are making investments and working with the provinces and territories to find ways that we can expand child care to make it affordable and accessible for people, regardless of the career that they have.

Certainly, for those who are working in a lot of emergency services where there is a lack of child care options for women, or in careers that require people to work late into the night or to travel, it can be a challenge. It is something we are cognizant of, and we are working with our partners to ensure that our child care program would meet the needs of all women.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Madam Speaker, it is always interesting to hear about this child care model, which originated in Quebec. The early childhood centre model, or CPE, was created by Pauline Marois.

Quebec is a trailblazer. Members spoke about atypical working hours and that CPEs in Quebec already offer services outside of the usual hours of day care centres. These centres offer services to women who do not necessarily work during the day. Quebec is already providing these services. This is a system proper to Quebec and it is unique.

My fear is that in five years we will find ourselves in negotiations between Quebec and Ottawa and that this will delay money being sent to Quebec with no conditions. There is a five-year timeline, but what will happen in five years so that Quebec can continue to receive the money, so that we can continue to develop the system that we have created?

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

Madam Speaker, I will give a shout-out to the Quebec model, which was a model we referred to when we were doing our study at the status of women committee.

I do not have a crystal ball to see five years into the future, but I would say that this legislation is so important because it would put into law the federal government's commitment to continue to support all provinces and territories, and indigenous partners. I would add that Quebec was one of the early signatories to an agreement with the federal government on the program we have implemented.

I cannot see into the future, but I would say that this legislation is an important piece of ensuring there will be funding moving forward in five years' time.

[Lindsay Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Madam Speaker, I am very excited today to rise in the House to discuss the bill. I had put forward Bill C-311, which is a lot of the base, I would like to think, of the present bill. I worked off of the work of many other members of Parliament, such as New Democrat women like Denise Savoie and Olivia Chow, to name a couple.

However, part of my bill, I would like to specify here, is about the workers within the child care system, these incredible people, who are often women. Some strengthening needs to happen within the bill for training and professional development, and to ensure their hours of work are protected. A lot of the unions within this field have called for that, so I would like to hear the hon. member talk about that.

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

Madam Speaker, I think the hon. member makes a very valid point, and I hope she will bring it up when the bill goes to committee. It is certainly something that is valid to be speaking about at committee and as the bill makes its way through the legislative process.

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Madam Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to speak on the bill before us, and I will be sharing my time with the member for Mégantic—L'Érable.

I recall when the national child care strategy was first discussed in 1993 because at that time I was pregnant with my first child. He is now the father of four children, so obviously we are still having this discussion. I recall back in 1994 putting my child on a wait-list.

Back in 1994 was the first time that I put my child on a wait-list for a child care space, which was not necessarily publicly funded, in the city of London. I was a brand new mother, 23 years old, with a job, and I was probably making between eight and nine dollars an hour working as a dental assistant. I knew that child care was going to be very critical for me to go back to work because my spouse and I were not making a lot of money and we did want to get ahead. We had student loans. We had bills we wanted to pay, and we did have a car. Therefore, it was very important, even back then, that we were both working at that, although not necessarily full time.

Now, in 2023, we are continuing to have the conversation on child care and what it looks like. As the government is putting forward this piece of legislation, I will reflect on the work I have done in Parliament as we have discussed child care and the discussions I have had with parents.

During my role from 2015 to 2019, I had the honour to work with families, children and social development, and look at the different things that we are discussing, especially child care. I recall, I believe it was in the 2016 budget, when the Canada child benefit was increased quite a bit so that it could include child care. However, we all know that today, with the exorbitant cost for families, the new child benefit does not even touch what this country is going through with inflationary costs. Although it was a program that was very important to do, I do not think the government was actually going in the right direction when it comes to the fact that it cannot keep its spending under control.

When we get to where we are today, we are talking about child care, and we need to talk about those spaces. I just had a young woman call me last week who could not return to work because she could not find a child care space. Her question to me was, “Can I get my employment insurance expanded?” She said that she needed to go to back to work. She cannot afford what is going on right now. She cannot afford her home. She cannot afford the price of groceries. She cannot afford life at this time, and she needs to go back to work because her EI maternity and parental benefits have run out.

I could not believe that I had to say to her, “I am really sorry.” I know that she has been trying for the last year to find a child care space as her child was just born, but there is not a space for that child. This is where we talk about looking at these programs and making sure that we have enough spaces.

I also recall back in 2018 one of the greatest challenges they were having in Langley, B.C. I was doing a tour there and I was at the YMCA, which was paying its child care providers $22 an hour. Now, I see in this piece of legislation talk about averages that people must make, but we have to also understand that $22 an hour in Langley, B.C. cannot keep a child care provider because of the cost of living is so outrageous. This is where we really need to focus on the labour market. We really need to focus on the cost of living. We really need to ask what is going on here.

This occupation is heavily oriented towards women. Many women choose to be child care providers. Many women also choose to educate small children, those in kindergarten through to grade eight, because of their love of children and wanting to be part of that. However, we are not getting to where we need to be because these child care spaces are not available.

In Langley, B.C. when a person making $22 an hour cannot afford to work in that profession, they are going to find another profession, which is what we have seen. We have seen an exodus from professions that may be lower paying. It is good that we are seeing a bit of an increase, but at the same time I am wondering what we are going to do to sustain this type of program, because the business model does not work when we look at this.

That is why I want to bring in the discussion of entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs.

I like to have kids, it seems. Between my second and third child, I decided to stay home and bring in three other children. I did my very best because I am the type of person who wants to make sure that we are having the right food, that we are having the right playtimes and that we are doing some educational pieces. That was very important to me. I was able to offer child care to mothers who did not have regular work schedules, people who were working in restaurants, people who were not working a regular nine-to-five job. That is why I believe it is so important that we not only look at the public and not-for-profit but that we look at these women-led businesses that are providing child care.

The whole idea of not-for-profit seems to be the problem here. It is a business, and we should be supporting this, because even CUPE has come out and said that there will not be enough spaces if we are putting all of our eggs into one basket and expecting it to be not-for-profit or publicly funded. There needs to be space for this private care.

I also bring this up because I am a girl from Sparta, population 300. If my parents, or any family in Sparta, needed to take their child to child care, it would be a 25-minute drive. That is why we need flexibility for families.

For instance, a young woman, or a new mom, which was my case, may choose to become a child care provider within her own home. That would be seen, perhaps, as private. That is a job. The way I look at it is that it is a job and it is a way for the woman and the family to have more flexibility. She is helping out other women and helping out herself in the meantime.

When we are looking at a program that is really focused at a national scale, we need to recognize that we live in Canada. We live in a country where it is hard for us to get to Ottawa some days. It is hard for us to get to the grocery store on certain days.

When we are talking about that, I live in a very populated place, St. Thomas. I live with about 45,000 other people in my community. If we are talking about smaller populations, how are we going to ensure that they are having the same accessible, quality child care that people in urban centres are going to have? How are we ensuring that this is going to happen? How are we ensuring that every family has access to $10-a-day child care?

Let us be real and say that this is not the way it is going to work out perfectly. Yes, we need to ensure that there is child care, because child care helps our economy. It puts families and women back to work and it gives them that opportunity. For me, child care was very important, but I did not do it with public child care. It was not an option. There were no spaces. I did it through not-for-profit and through women entrepreneur-based businesses, where women were able to do this.

I am really hoping that when the government looks at this legislation, it is very focused on these types of businesses. I really hope that it recognizes that we need to be looking at all types of child care when we are looking at this. There are approximately five different types of child care that we have here in Ontario. We need to make sure that all of those are on the plate and that all of those are part of that basket, if we really want to have something available for families and children.

Before I finish, I want to switch to labour, because, as we have said, labour is an issue. I have talked about the cost of living. I have talked about how it was $22 an hour, in 2018, to be a child care provider out in Langley, B.C.

We are at a critical issue. Just as we are seeing in our health care professions and just as we are seeing with many of our frontline workers, we are seeing burnout. I must say that the people who are working in child care are doing an exceptional job, but there is burnout as well. We need to ensure that there are supports for them and that there is education for them.

However, there is a labour market issue here right now that is not going to help fulfill what the government is putting forward, and that is why we need to look at everything else. We need to look at things. PSWs, labour force issues, this is what we are seeing from the government, because people cannot afford to have certain types of jobs so people are leaving those types of jobs, which are really important. They are leaving those jobs to try to find higher-earning jobs because the government does not really have that love for jobs. Many people who are working in ECE are doing it because they love children.

I do not think the government recognizes that it should not just be one way. We should make sure that child care is accessible for all.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member for her speech and for her advocacy with respect to child care in general. However, I do have some concerns with some of the comments, especially when she said that the focus on non-profit child care is the problem here.

My deep concern is this. What I have heard from the Conservatives, both the Doug Ford provincial Conservatives and those here in this chamber, is that they want to put public funds into what should be non-profit supports. When it comes to child care, we know that the Ontario Conservative government has quietly removed profit caps and is expanding for-profit child care. This is very concerning to me. We also know that Doug Ford is putting our public health care funding into privatized systems.

I am curious if the member believes that we should be prioritizing for-profit instead of non-profit care?

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Madam Speaker, perhaps the member did not listen to me, because I said we need the entire bouquet, the entire plate of different options, because not-for-profit and public just do not meet the need. Rather than making this political, rather than calling Conservatives out, rather than talking about what we have done, let us talk about the children first here, because it is the children who are missing out in all of this political crap that people are talking about. That is where we are going here.

I listened to the question. It was a political attack. It was not about children. If we are talking about for-profit versus this, what we need is a system that works for parents. It is not just one type; it needs to be all of these different systems working together to ensure that we have child care across this nation.

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families]

Madam Speaker, my colleague across the way knows well that I am happy to talk about child care all day long.

Bill C-35 is really legislation that encompasses the agreements that have already been put in place. If we look province by province, much work was done to identify and register a wide array of child care. While, yes, there are caps on private, there is private child care that has been grandfathered in Ontario, but the idea is to create more spaces, because the market demand for spaces is there. Each province gave us a list of how many spaces it needs, and the partnership with the federal government is to commit the funds to build those spaces. I was just in Manitoba announcing $70 million for rural spaces.

I would ask the member this. Does she not understand that this is really a set of agreements under this legislation so that we continue to work together with provinces and families?

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Madam Speaker, I think the member hit the nail on the head when talking about needing agreements with the provinces, because at the end of the day the people who are providing child care are the provinces. The federal government is supposed to be there trying to create a strategy, an approach to this. I think as we are talking about this we are so keyed in on “This is what we are trying to do.” It does not work. One type of thing just does not work for everybody. We need to make these agreements, but 67% of child care in the province of Alberta is done by entrepreneurs. It is not public and it is not not-for-profit, because that is what works in that area. Therefore, when we are talking about this, I am really hoping the government understands that spaces and private can still work together very well.

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague so much for her passion and work on this file. She understands it so well and the choice that needs to be offered.

My question for her is this. Does she feel that this legislation should be eligible for the most vulnerable? Right now it is subsidizing wealthy families instead of those that are most vulnerable.

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Madam Speaker, I forgot about that part of my speech. Absolutely, for me it has to be for those people who really need a hand up. That is what the government should be doing, giving a hand up. Making it so that millionaires can take the spaces of the people who are trying to get into the workforce should not be happening. Absolutely, it should be income-tested for sure.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Speaker, I want to begin by thanking and congratulating my colleague from Elgin—Middlesex—London on her speech. I also want to thank our shadow minister for families, children and social development, the member for Peterborough—Kawartha, for the excellent and extremely important work she has done on this file.

Over the next few minutes, I will have the chance to talk about the reality facing Canadian families. I wanted to speak to Bill C-35 because my wife has been working in child care centres in Quebec for many years now, so she is very familiar with the system. She witnessed its creation. Unfortunately, she has also witnessed the deterioration in services over the last few years. I think it is important to share her experience of this public system, which has existed in Quebec for over 20 years.

It is important to identify the flaws in the system, to recognize that there are still problems and look at how this Parliament can work to improve the child care situation across the country and in every province. It is also important not to put all our eggs in one basket, as Quebec has done in recent years. This would allow more families, more single mothers and fathers, more people to have access to appropriate child care across Canada.

Let us talk about the current reality for Canadian families. The cost of living has skyrocketed. We are facing interest rates that are making it harder and harder for young families to access home ownership. Food prices went up nearly 12% in just a year. That far outstrips the rise in inflation. We hear that many women would like to go back to work, especially young women who just had their first child. Young women who still do not have access to a child care system could be on a waiting list for several months, even a year.

In Quebec, in particular, when a person no longer has access to parental benefits, they may have to wait another year before they get a child care spot. It is unacceptable. This prevents many women from going back to work and thriving. More importantly, it also denies children the opportunity to access a public system that could help in their development.

At first, I was against a public child care system like the one that was implemented in Quebec in recent years. However, I must now admit that such a system improves the living conditions of many children. An educational child care system helps children be better prepared for school. Sometimes, these children come from disadvantaged backgrounds and their families do not necessarily have all the tools to help them develop before they go to preschool and kindergarten.

These services are good for children who manage to get into the system. Unfortunately, there are still many children who are unable to do so. Eight years after the Liberals made their promises, they are now introducing a bill that proposes access to that kind of system in the future. Unfortunately, based on what we have seen from the Liberals over the past eight years, we are worried that this bill is all about good intentions and that the results may not be up to par.

The Liberals want to move too quickly. They are grandstanding and trying to win political points. They are implementing a fine program to help families, but once again, they are realizing a little too late that they may not have done their homework properly and that, unfortunately, thousands of children will not have access to child care.

Why will they not have access to child care spaces? First, there is already a shortage of spaces in the system, especially in Quebec, and second, there is a dire shortage of specialized educators, so the centres cannot provide services to these children.

Day cares lack money for food. I was surprised to learn that in some day cares in Quebec, they no longer give meat to young children under the age of five because they cannot afford it. Non-profit centres can no longer afford to buy meat to feed the children. Instead, they serve plant-based proteins in the morning.

All sorts of other products are being used to try to adequately meet people's needs, but meat has been banned in the day care centres because there is not enough money, because everything costs more. There is also a glaring lack of choice. Families would have had the opportunity to access child care services, but unfortunately, Quebec has favoured subsidized non-profit day cares as currently proposed by the federal program. As a result, we find ourselves in a situation where, 25 years later, needs are still not being met.

I have some stats here about children on the waiting list. These numbers are from the Government of Quebec's ministry of families. There are 286,817 spaces in the system according to data from May 31, 2022. Quebec currently has 101,244 children in early learning centres, or facilities. There are 50,444 children in subsidized child care. There are 68,431 children in non-subsidized care, the so-called private day cares. Lastly, there are 66,698 children in home-based child care.

These child care services are offered by women, entrepreneurs who decide to open their own home-based child care service but are part of the network subsidized by the Government of Quebec. These female entrepreneurs are subsidized by Quebec to provide services to children. Unfortunately, this approach will not be allowed in all provinces, which do not all have the same agreement. This means more choice.

The big problem, despite all this and after 25 years, is that there are still 33,829 children waiting for a child care space. Some 30,295 spaces are being created, so there is already a shortfall. There are 2,500 subsidized spaces to be allocated. The facilities have not yet been developed to ensure that young people can access these child care centres or spaces. The number of children with “pending” status is 50,000. After more than 20 years of the public subsidized system, there are still 50,000 children who do not have a child care space. If you multiply that number by one for the number of mothers and by two for the number of parents, it is quite clear that there is a problem with putting all your eggs in one basket and taking just one path forward.

Fortunately, the Quebec government is providing subsidies to stay-at-home mothers who decide to open their own home-based child care. This is a way out. However, we deplore certain aspects of this bill, which is why we have some requests. We will be proposing amendments in committee to allow for more choice and to achieve the ultimate goal of accessible child care for children, and particularly for mothers who need access to a child care system.

We also have concerns about cost. If we cannot even create the number of spaces promised, will the government be able to keep its promise of creating $10-a-day spaces? That is the second big question. Based on past experience and different programs presented and adopted by the Liberal government in the last eight years, there is reason to have doubts and to ask questions.

The government does have an area of expertise that could help Quebec. Quebec is currently trying to fill 18,000 educator positions and the Quebec government would like to recruit abroad to fill these 18,000 positions. I believe that the federal government has a very specific role to play to help address the shortage of child care staff. It must work with the Quebec government and the governments of all the other provinces to expedite the arrival of these educators so that an increasing number of children, families and single parents can access quality child care services.

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families]

Madam Speaker, in 1997, Quebec's female labour force was four points behind the national average. However, when we look at 2021, with 25 years of good work on a model that is growing and changing, just as the Quebec population is, the women's workforce in Quebec is four points higher than the rest of Canada.

Do you not want to see other provinces and women across this country benefit from a workforce that also works for them?

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I will remind the hon. parliamentary secretary to address her questions through the Chair and not use the word “you”. Maybe “he” or “she” would be better.

The hon. member for Mégantic—L'Érable.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Speaker, for sure I hope that everyone in this country has access to affordable child care services, but I want to give people the choice of which service they prefer and which service they need. In the end, it is better to have spaces for everyone than choosing one system that will not allow everyone to have access to the system.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to listen to my colleague from Mégantic—L'Érable. I very much appreciated some of what he had to say.

Under the Canadian Constitution, family policies fall under the jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces. The Bloc Québécois did not make that up. The federal government knows nothing about any of that, but as my colleague mentioned, Quebec has 25 years of experience with its own child care network.

We know that the federal government would like to help with immigration, but, again, the Government of Quebec is petitioning to fully and completely manage its immigration system. Again, we see that the Conservatives' vision and the vision of the Government of Quebec are in opposition. Even my colleague said that he did not really support the creation of our child care services, even though they are internationally renowned.

My colleague forgot to mention the agreement that the former leader of the Conservative Party, the member for Durham, was proposing during the last election campaign. He wanted to cancel the $6‑billion agreement that the Government of Quebec had reached with Ottawa on transfers for the child care network. In total, the Government of Quebec would have lost $6 billion.

I would like my colleague to explain that today. He says he is in favour of child care networks, but his party wants to cancel the transfers to the Government of Quebec. What is the real vision of the Conservative Party?

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Speaker, he said so many things in such a short amount of time that it will be difficult to answer all of his questions. More importantly, my colleague just said some things that are far from true.

It is true that when the child care system was put in place, I was against it. At the time, I was working as a young politician and I had some serious questions. I would like to remind my colleague that my wife works in the child care system, so I have learned to appreciate its merits since then. I have learned how useful a child care system can be for children and how it can help them as they move into the school system.

I think that children deserve access to child care, and my colleagues agree. Women and families deserve to have access to quality child care that will help them move forward and put them on the right path for the rest of their lives.

However, people need to be able to access the system if they so choose. That is the main problem in Canada right now. This has even been a problem in Quebec over the past 25 years.

[Lisa Marie Barron, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Madam Speaker, I always like hearing more about what is happening with child care in Quebec because we know, when we look across Canada, that families in Quebec have been provided accessible child care, and the positives have been evident for many years. Unfortunately, that has not been the experience in many other provinces and territories.

We know that this is a step in the right direction. We know that there gaps in moving forward, and that is why the New Democrats are pushing for solutions, such as fighting for child care and having explicit commitments for fair wages and working conditions for staff. Those are things we are pushing for.

I am wondering if the member could speak to whether he feels that having this explicitly listed in the bill would help move us in the right direction and address some of the gaps he was identifying.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Speaker, there are a lot of gaps that we have to fix in this bill. One is wages and the availability of personnel.

Let us work together to improve the bill. This is not a communication exercise. This is a bill for the future of families and women in this country, so let us work together. We are open to it.