Finance committee  I know you've stated that it is one of your priorities, but you have not made it your priority. So I don't agree that it is one of your priorities. It is through your actions.

Finance committee  How many phases in your child care program? Two phases, as they've been positioned.

Finance committee  The first one, as I've stated, is something that I don't think is child care. It's been called child care, but it isn't child care; it's a family allowance. The second one is a vague reference to a commitment through tax incentives, or perhaps grants or something, that may generate some spaces.

Finance committee  Yes, actually that's really helpful because here's how I understand it, and I would really appreciate it if you could correct me if I'm wrong on this. My understanding of it, if we wanted to use the health care analogy, is that it's like creating hospital beds. It's like saying we'll create 125,000 hospital beds.

Finance committee  But there's no operational money there, right? I just want to be clear about this.

Finance committee  No, no. That's for the creation of spaces. It's a tax incentive to create spaces.

Finance committee  This is what your minister talked about on Monday when I attended a press conference after she met with the ministers. The way she positioned it was that this was capital money—much like creating beds for hospitals, this is creating some kind of child care space in a business—but that the operational funds were absolutely not coming from this government; that they would be coming maybe from businesses or community groups or parents or somebody, but not from the government.

Finance committee  I came into this position as a child care advocate from the field. I worked as a partner with parents in caring for their children in a child care centre. I can assure you that I would invite all members from all parties to go to those community-based child care centres. My children go to an institution; they go to a school.

Finance committee  Thank you. That's a very important question. While it's true that when parents are asked about child care and who is the best person to look after their children, we are, of course, all going to say, “I am”. Who would say, “Someone else; I had this baby so I could have someone else raise them”?

Finance committee  First, my apologies for my inability to speak to you in French. I'm not even sure where to start. Sometimes I feel like I've fallen down the rabbit hole, because suddenly we're in a position where we have income supplement programs that benefit those who need them least, and we are calling them something different than they are.

Finance committee  Absolutely. The position of the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada—and working with our partner, the Quebec child care coalition, we're respectful partners and not always with exactly the same position.... But we do recognize Quebec's leadership in this area, and we recognize that Quebec is entitled to its share of the commitment, although now I'm not sure with this current budget, looking forward to $250 million in tax credits—I don't know....

Finance committee  Thank you. My apologies for being late. I, too, appreciate the opportunity to be here. The new federal Conservative government says it developed this year's budget much like a typical Canadian family would approach their own budget. Canada is currently the economic equivalent of a family that has a steady income, a decent home, pays its bills on time, and holds a reasonable mortgage that is regularly paid down.