In their own words: Praise for the Liberal Early Childhood Learning and Care Fund

April 4, 2011

Ignatieff Vows To Spend $500-Million On Childcare In First Budget (Globe and Mail, March 31, 2011)

“Women will welcome the Liberal party’s announcement today of a $500 million federal Early Childhood Learning and Care Fund. The long-term goal of a ‘high-quality, affordable early childhood learning and care space for every Canadian family that wants one’ is the social policy Canada needs.” (Press Release, YWCA Canada, March 31, 2011)

“This federal money, combined with provincial dollars, will create services that are desperately needed by Canadian families today. This is a significant commitment of money that will result in actual affordable child care spaces, and that’s what’s needed now.” (Andrea Calver, Coordinator, Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, March 31, 2011)

« Le chef libéral a dévoilé les détails de ce plan dans une garderie de Winnipeg, précisant que le fonds de 500 millions $ atteindrait le milliard d’ici la quatrième année. Les provinces et les territoires n’auraient qu’à présenter une demande pour financer leurs propres services de garde et leurs centres de la petite enfance, en vue de créer de nouvelles places et d’embaucher des enseignants supplémentaires. » (Le Soleil, Le 1er avril 2011)

“The Liberal federal election pledge to reintroduce a national childcare program will finally put Canada on the road to giving families the support they need during their children’s early years… We are very encouraged that Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has chosen to make childcare a prominent issue in this election and has pledged to build a universal high quality program” said Debra Mayer, a Winnipeg childcare expert. “The proposal recognizes this as both the first stage of education for all children and a valuable support for parents, especially working mothers.” (Press release, Code Blue for Child Care, March 31, 2011)

“While the CCCF calls on all federal parties to commit to quality child care and recognize the realities of today”s working families, we support the principles, the leadership and the accountability built in to this national early learning and child care plan,” said CCCF President Don Giesbrecht. (Press release, Canadian Child Care Federation, March 31, 2011)

« Puisque le gouvernement fédéral n’a pas juridiction en matière de services à la petite enfance, le Parti libéral propose d’aider les provinces et territoires à développer des systèmes… similaires à celui du Québec. (La Presse, le 31 mars 2011)

“This is not only the right thing to do, for children and for women, but it’s also the smart thing to do for our communities and for Canada… Good childcare works for everyone in Canada-children, families and communities-because it yields economic and social benefits such as health, lifelong learning, training and employment support, and social cohesion.” (Sue Delanoy, Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada, March 31, 2011)

“PSAC applauds the Liberals for putting this important issue on the federal election agenda.” (Press release, Public Service Alliance of Canada, April 1, 2011)

“Another much welcomed element announced in this Liberal Party plan is that it will incorporate a process whereby the provinces and territories will have the ability to exchange and share research and best practices–in other words, a national conversation on child care systems. The Government of Canada needs to take advantage of the vast early learning research we have and apply it to a pan-Canadian system. …Early learning and child care continues to be a public issue affecting millions of Canadian children and their families, yet our current public discourse on a national level fails to address the importance of children’s safety, their positive development, or the needs of real Canadian families.  The time has come to put children first by supporting families and investing where early learning research and good practice tell us will reap the most success: quality early learning and child care.” (Press release, Canadian Child Care Federation, March 31, 2011)

“Then Ignatieff released his party’s child-care program. In its first year of office, a Liberal government would set up a $500 million fund to help the provinces create and operate early learning and child-care facilities in its first year of office.  Over the course of its mandate, it would raise its contribution to $1 billion a year.  The fund would come out of the $6 billion saved by cancelling the corporate tax cut. Parents would not have to sacrifice the $100 a month benefit they now receive.  These announcements, plus the caregiver plan unveiled last fall, give the Liberals a solid foundation on which to build.” (Toronto Star, Editorial, April 2, 2011)