In September 2008, Environics Research was retained by Code Blue for Child Care to conduct a survey of Canadians’ attitudes toward child care. Two questions were asked on a national poll, which was conducted among a sample of 1,000 respondents between September 24 and October 4, 2008. Among the findings of the poll are:

• Three-quarters of Canadians (77%) think that the lack of affordable child care is a very (31%) or somewhat (46%) serious problem in Canada today. Just two in ten Canadians (19%) feel that this is not very (14%) or not at all (5%) serious.

• Across the country, the lack of affordable child care is seen as particularly serious in the Atlantic provinces (86%), British Columbia (85%), and Ontario (78%). Seventy percent (70%) of Quebec residents, and 75 percent of Prairie residents, see it as a serious problem. Outside Quebec, 80 percent say it is a serious problem.

• Although concern about the lack of affordable child care is higher among women (79%) concern is also high among men (75%). Among those with children under six, 84 percent say it is a serious problem.

• Conservative supporters are less inclined than other partisans to see the lack of affordable child care as serious, but over two-thirds (68%) agree. Among other party supporters, 83 percent of Liberals see it as serious, as do 93 percent of New Democrats, 76 percent of Green party supporters, and 80 percent of Bloc Quebecois supporters.

• On the second question, eight in ten Canadians (83%) think that governments have a very (35%) or somewhat (48%) important role to play in helping parents meet their child care needs. Just 15 percent think this is not very or not at all important.

• Across the country, a role for government is seen as especially important in British Columbia (90%), the Atlantic provinces (88%), and Quebec (85%). A total of 80 percent of Prairies residents, and 79 percent of Ontarians, see an important role for government.

• Women (85%) and lower-to-middle income Canadians show stronger support for a government role, but support is also high among men (80%) and in all income groups.

• Again, supporters of all political parties see an important role for governments in helping parents meet their child care needs, including Conservatives (75%), Liberals (88%), New Democrats (95%), Green Party supporters (81%), and Bloc Quebecois supporters (88%).

Early childhood development experts, Dr. Fraser Mustard and Hon. Margaret McCain, were on Prince Edward Island this week, October 6-8 to present their research on the importance of the early years.

Dr. Mustard, who began his medical career in cardiology, is a leading authority on early brain development. He has stated that children develop patterns for life by age six and that the quality and capacity of our future population depends on what we do now to support young children.

Hon. McCain is recognized for her advocacy role against family violence and her efforts towards the development of policies that support healthy child development. She is a social worker, a philanthropist and former lieutenant governor of New Brunswick. She and her husband, Wallace McCain, now live in Toronto.

McCain and Mustard co-authored The Early Years Study, and later assisted Dr. Stuart Shanker with the Early Years Study 2: Putting Science into Action, which recommends an integrated system of community-based early childhood development and parenting centres linked to the school system.

While on PEI, the champions for young children talked about the role schools and communities play in early brain development. They shared their research with government, community and business leaders who are working in the areas of early child development, education and health.

Here is the Guardian coverage of the comunity meeting that was hosted at the Murchison Centre on October 6, 2008:

Investing in the development of children in their early years will impact Canadian society socially and economically, says Margaret McCain.
Social worker McCain and Dr. Fraser Mustard, co-authors of the book the Early Years Study 2: Putting Science into Action, spoke to a group of students, educators and researchers on the subject of early childhood development at the Murchison Centre in Charlottetown Tuesday.
The pair took turns in explaining the importance of early-year development of a child and how communities can develop quality parenting centres to achieve this.
Mustard said early development is essential to society.
“If you don’t invest wisely in early human development, you’ll fail to get equity and you’ll fail to have a healthy competent population,” he said.
There is a need for this kind of care today, McCain said.
“Parents today need high-quality parental care and they need stimulation for their children.”
In McCain’s presentation, she said that in early childhood development reports, 42 per cent of functioning Canadians are illiterate, meaning they could read a
simple message but cannot
understand a complex message seen in a newspaper or on a medicine bottle.
She said P.E.I. and other parts of Canada should take the survey into consideration.
“Like many parts of Canada, P.E.I. needs to pay attention to this because your literacy and economic outcomes are at least as bad, if not more so than some other parts of Canada.”
Mustard urged parents to be productive with their children.
“For heaven’s sake, be effective. Intervene often because sculpting the brain for language abilities depends on the amount of language exposure.”
McCain listed risk factors that would make a child turn out poorly. She said they include poverty, single parenting, child abuse and substance abuse among others.
She said being well fed and clothed and the ability to live in a safe and well protected environment is something every Canadian has a right to.
“This is a basic human right we Canadians hold dear.”
McCain and Fraser agreed in their presentations that a lack of qualified early childhood development centres is a social problem that should be universal
rather than targeted to certain groups.
McCain said there should be systems set up to solve this problem.
“A universal system must be available, must be affordable, it must be accessible and probably optional for everyone.”