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At long last the Conservatives have released their plan to better support parents with child care issues.  Here it is…

“As a parent, I do appreciate the financial challenges involved in raising children,” the Prime Minister said.  “And, of course, I do understand that these challenges are even greater for the more than one million Canadian single parents who struggle on low incomes.”

True to its commitment in the 2006 federal election campaign, the Conservative Party gave child care choice to Canadian parents through the Universal Child Care Benefit, a direct payment of $100 per month for each child under six.  A re-elected Conservative Government will:

• Fully index the $100 per month Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB) to inflation, ensuring that the value of the benefit does not erode over time, and returning about $50 million per year to parents, on top of the $2.4 billion that is already being returned to parents through the current UCCB.
• Make the $100 per month per child benefit tax free for sole-support single-income parents, providing nearly $50 million per year in new support for lone-parent families.

Further information can be found here.

Here is what The Star wrote about the announcement.  National Post coverage is here. 

The reaction from the Code Blue for Child Care Campaign was swift.  Here is their press release:

The Universal Child Care Benefit has nothing to do with child care and no amount of dressing it up will change the fact that Canadian families are still struggling to find affordable quality
services, says the Code Blue for Child Care Campaign.

"The Harper Conservatives' announcement today to sweeten the baby bonus if elected is yet another ploy to divert attention from the fact that the government has failed families when it comes to child care," said Jody Dallaire, spokesperson for Code Blue.

The facts speak for themselves:

Harper's fiction – "True to its commitment in the 2006 federal election
campaign, the Conservative Party gave child care choice to Canadian parents
through the Universal Child Care Benefit, a direct payment of $100 per month
for each child under six."

The facts – Growth in child care spaces has slowed since the UCCB was
introduced. Centre closings and staff shortages are rampant. And if families
are lucky enough to find a child care space, fees are between $600 and
$1,500/month. There is no evidence to show that parents who need child care
have more choice – indeed, any choice.

Harper's fiction – "Enhancing the Universal Child Care Benefit is another
component of the Conservatives' realistic plan to manage the economy."

The facts – Although more than $5 billion has been spent on the UCCB,
there has been no evaluation of the UCCB's effectiveness as a public
expenditure. Canadians should be concerned about billions going out the door
each year with no public accountability, while the child care services that we
need to support our children, our families and our economy are still in
crisis. This is not competent financial management.

Harper's fiction – "It is not enough to talk about wanting to help
Canadian families; you need an achievable, believable plan to actually do it."

The facts – The Harper government cancelled plans for beginning to build
a national early childhood education and care system in 2006. In its place,
they have no child care plan at all – certainly not an "achievable, believable
plan".