Human Resources committee  At this point, no dollars have been cut from our organization. We have two contracts through the social development partnerships program. We were very surprised by all of this. We had no inclination that these were coming. When we heard it in the media, we actually had to scramble around trying to find somebody who could tell us whether we were being cut.

Human Resources committee  Our—

Human Resources committee  Let me be clear. We don't receive any core funding. As someone pointed out, CPRN has a unique funding arrangement. Unlike most of the voluntary sector, we receive no core funding,

Human Resources committee  Over our 25 years in existence we have certainly received--

Human Resources committee  I can't answer exactly about the last thirteen years.

Human Resources committee  We have received...I don't know, $500,000, maybe. I don't know. Maybe somebody else knows.

Human Resources committee  I do want to respond to that.

Human Resources committee  Let me put this right down on the ground. We can talk about a higher level and the value at a higher level. Let me talk about the three-year-old with spina bifida who can't get into a child care centre. This little program that was funded through this partnerships program helped centres develop the capacity to be able to include children with diverse abilities in their program.

Human Resources committee  The CCAAC, as well as our partner organizations, have requested repeatedly to meet with the minister and have been met with flat refusal. We've also requested to meet with Prime Minister Harper and were also flatly refused, despite repeated requests.

Human Resources committee  Thank you. My name is Monica Lysack and I am the executive director of the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the committee. I commend the members who have initiated these hearings with the goal of better understanding the programs and the impact of the cuts.

Finance committee  You know, it's so sad to see this being polarized. I see mothers everywhere struggling to do the best thing they can for their children. When I was a stay-at-home mom, I had three children relatively close together. I didn't send my children to early learning and child care because I was a bad mom.

Finance committee  I think the federal government would do well to follow the example of the Quebec government and respect Quebec's jurisdiction over that and concerning the $250 million in tax savings. I don't know if you are aware, but the net cost of Quebec's child care system is now at only 60%; there's already a 40% recovery.

Finance committee  In response to your first question, which asked whether people would have made the choice had they known, certainly the Environics poll--paid for by donations--confirmed that in fact they wouldn't have made that choice, and the public focus groups that I believe the government paid for, highlighted in The Globe and Mail last week, also confirmed that families would not have made that choice.

Finance committee  It's such a tiny comparison, and—

Finance committee  Right. And actually the Canadian public has been very supportive. There's information in that polling that the Canadian public do feel it's a very good federal investment to invest in research. So in fact I would say the Canadian public is supportive of it—certainly not in exchange for creating child care spaces, but let me just point out, as you're saying your priority is to create child care spaces, that in the analysis of that there is a cut of $1 billion from communities that are already rolling things out.