Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  I'd like to ensure that your committee knows three important economic facts: one comes out of a 1998 study done by University of Toronto economists Gordon Cleveland and Michael Krashinsky, who tell us that there's a 2:1 return for every dollar spent on child care. That's a long-term cost.

Finance committee  No.

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  The argument I had made, that we don't fund the health care system by just giving all citizens their share of a health care budget, was to make the point that we actually need services. We need hospitals. We need doctors. We need infrastructure, and it's available for all Canadians who want to use it.

Finance committee  Thank you very much for your question. I'm glad to know my examples may live on. You're a member from the only province in Canada with which I would have sympathy for the question, because Quebec is such an inspiration to the rest of Canada for the steps that have been made. I'm sympathetic to the suggestion that Quebec is exceptionalist, the national question for Quebec, and the need to do it.

Finance committee  Thank you. Good morning. I'm wearing three hats as I speak to you today. I'm the mother of two children, ages eight and ten; I'm a sociologist at the University of Manitoba who works on child care policy; and I'm active in the Child Care Coalition, an organization with a broad range of stakeholders.