Human Resources committee  That was in November 2005. He wasn't the Prime Minister, and my flight was paid for by donations to Kids First from various individuals. And we received zero--that's zero--money from any Conservatives that I know of and any corporations and any government entities.

Human Resources committee  One of our supporters phoned and was angry that I was going to be staying at the youth hostel in Ottawa while I was there. She asked them if they would cover my accommodation cost, which they offered to do, and which we declined. That would have been about $200 for my accommodation.

Human Resources committee  Hello, can you hear me?

Human Resources committee  Thank you. Kids First Parent Association of Canada began in 1987 with two objectives: support for the optimal care of children, and support and recognition for parental child care. Unlike the day care lobby, we are 100% volunteer-run and are neither founded nor funded by government, unions, or corporations.

Finance committee  Yes. We did that already.

Finance committee  I could do that by e-mail; I don't have it here.

Finance committee  Yes, there is a difference between public schooling and early childhood situations. There's a huge developmental difference. The developmental needs of young children are very different from the needs of older children. School is five or six hours a day. Day care, at least in B.C., can be up to 13 hours a day, seven days a week.

Finance committee  It is not financially possible to provide high-quality, centre-based care for all children or even a large number of them. The staffing needs alone are not resolvable, and it's simply not just. The Liberal government in 1999 said, “Our policy should be fair and equitable and neither encourage nor penalize caregiving choices”, and that the best interests of the child should be the core of the policy, and parents are the ones to decide what the best interests of the child are.

Finance committee  The OECD has been basically behind a lot of the initiatives in the day care push in Canada, and the Canadian government has adopted this policy of promoting labour force attachment over parent-child attachment. The OECD policy talks about putting more mothers to work. We say every mother is a working mother.

Finance committee  The definition of child care is part of the problem. Studies show that high-quality child care improves children's outcomes. We totally agree, and we are very much in favour of child care. I've personally sacrificed over $100,000 of income to do high-quality child care for myself and also for some friends.

Finance committee  No.

Finance committee  Thank you. Kids First is a 100% volunteer-run charity that receives no government, union, or corporate funding. We work for the support and optimal well-being of children and support for parental child care. Canada is now at a stage where the goal of economic growth, narrowly defined as GDP enlargement, is openly in conflict with the goal of improved quality of life.