A Vote for a Representative Democracy

1. Issue emerged nearly 40 years ago. very little money has been spent, only on high risk children who live in poor households

2. In 2004, the Martin government committed to spending one billion per year over a 5 year period. Which is unfortunately only about one tenth of what is needed.

3. A childcare program is a provincial responsibility, so it requires cooperation between the federal and provincial governments.

4. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) would strengthen Canada both economically and socially.

5. Krashinsky breaks down his argument in favour of an ECEC Program into six arguments:

6. 1. Many mothers who have young children are simultaneously working in the labour force. In 1967, about 17% of mothers with preschool children were part of the labour force. Since then there has been a steady increase and in 2001, about 68.5% of mothers with preschool aged children were part of the labour force. This of course, has a major impact on Canada's economy and for for children in Canada. Speculation as to why there has been such a drastic change in the participation of women who have young children in the labour force include high salaries, less discrimination, smaller families, men expected to participate in raising children more than in the past, and women tend to stay in school longer. This is of course just speculation.

7. 2. Women in the labour force will not stop working for money. Furthermore, a policy to encourage them to quit would be much more expensive than the best childcare program possible. Decades ago, very few women entered the labour force due to explicit discrimination and social pressures, but modern attitudes make it regression unlikely. A policy that offered mothers tax-saving incentives to stay home and take care of the children would be an option. However, the cost would