Fund the Child Rally

Tamara Hughes

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Friday, November 18. 2005

Fund the Child Rally

Well, look what subject got me back on political blogging! (Surprise, surprise.)

Kids First Canada is organizing a Fund the Child rally tomorrow. There's one in Calgary... I'm going to try to go (though, wtf, it's in Bowness instead of downtown?)

I've spoken before about why I'm not a fan of the proposed national child-care program, but I'm gonna say it again. It's not fair. And yes, I realize that life isn't fair sometimes, but should the government be actively endeavouring to make it more unfair?

When we have kids, I am going to be at home with them (at least until they are in school). This is our choice. The choice has consequences - reduced income, a higher tax load, and a simpler lifestyle. Going back to work and putting your kids in daycare is also a choice with consequences - higher income but with daycare expenses.

We should all get to make our own choices, and deal with the consequences of those choices.

Besides which, the money put forward for the childcare system is currently not nearly enough to get it up and running and to sustain it. The federal government is trapping provinces into yet another social program that is going to have a ballooning bureaucracy, ever-growing costs, (probably) another militant union, and is going to be yet another thing we really can't afford in the long run.

While I would much rather have no child-care program, and let us keep more of our tax dollars, I would much rather see the money going directly to parents to make their own choices than funding more public servants.

Fund the child. Not the bureaucracy.

Hat tip to Blue Blogging Soapbox.

Posted by Tamara in Politics at 10:09 | Comments (4) | Trackbacks (0)

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I totally agree with choices, but I know many families who don't have a choice -- a single income just won't pay the bills. Having a well-funded childcare system is never a bad thing.

#1 treava (Link) on 2005-11-22 00:22 (Reply)

It is always a bad idea. You want single parents to be able to make it work? The term is "tax breaks". If you are a single mom not paying any taxes, you would have no problem affording child care.

Tax breaks are fair - you have a kid, you pay this much less tax. Make that amount the exact amount is costs for the average daycare, and it is fair and it applies to the single, the married, the cohabiting, or the adoptive - all that matters is you have a kid and that kid deserves a break. THAT is fair.

I don't think it is right that I can look at Canadian Child Support Systems and Tax laws and clearly see that if I divorced my wife and lived next door we would have MUCH more money at our disposal. like 4-5 digits more a year - all at the paltry price of destroying the family and permanently scarring our children. That is what is not fair. A system that actively encourages the destruction of the family unit.

#1.1 Shane (Link) on 2005-11-22 12:36 (Reply)

Overhauling child care is about more than money, though -- it's about having enough spots (there aren't nearly enough), paying child care workers decent wages and ensuring daycares/day homes etc. are well-inspected and well-run. Tax breaks won't fund that.

#2 treava (Link) on 2005-11-24 23:22 (Reply)

Tax breaks form an incentive for people to start businesses, such as daycares. This grows the number of spots available. In a sector like private daycare, wages are determined by what the market can take, with a minimum of $7.50 in Alberta. The provinces regulate daycare; for details about how Alberta does it, see http://www.child.gov.ab.ca/whatwedo/childcare/page.cfm?pg=Day%20Care%20Licensing. That includes some information on inspections, and says that parents must have access to inspection reports.

Having the government run the daycare system doesn't guarantee that they will be well run or well inspected. Quebec's example shows that governmental daycare doesn't provide enough spaces either, and especially doesn't guarantee that the spots that are available are given to those that need them the most (i.e. low income single parents).

Private daycares, run in an environment where they are regulated and inspected, provides enough of a barrier to entry that profitteers who negect children for money won't be able to operate, while those who are passionate about child care will be able to build a business doing something they love.

#2.1 mch (Link) on 2006-01-18 13:43 (Reply)

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