Mulcair’s daycares

Under Mulcair’s plan, this would become more accessible to you.

The NDP knows what children and parents need the most.

Author: Jason Chestney

I wholeheartedly support NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair’s policy of creating a national childcare program, and I have several reasons for this. First of all, it would encourage an even greater participation of women in the workforce and result in increased equality for women in the workplace. Through the introduction of a national daycare, women would not have to take time off, except for maternity leave, to care for their young children. This is a benefit that would also apply to single-parent families, as the parent would now be able to work full-time without worrying about finding affordable care for their child.

Despite the fact that the companies are unwilling to admit this, it is common knowledge that taking time off work to raise a child or children is detrimental to one’s career, which can result in either overlooking of a promotion or even termination of employment; this is especially true for women. This policy of discrimination only serves to increase the burden on the woman or the single parent affected and also serves to make the cost of private daycare even more unaffordable due to the loss in income. Coming in an age where it is even difficult for dual-parent families, assuming both are working full-time, to make ends meet, to force people to pay for expensive daycare rates further reduces their possibility of improving their, and their children’s, quality of life.

Mulcair’s national daycare policy also makes sense from an economic standpoint.

In an interview with CTV, he said: “For every dollar invested into the program, $1.73 is returned to the economy.”

I believe this makes sense from a middle-class standpoint historically as well. When the middle-class has savings built up, both from their own fiscal income and supportive government policies, they use this income to improve their own living standard, resulting in a spending multiplier effect that grows the economy. I believe that this program, unlike the Conservatives’ policy of income splitting, would not only benefit all Canadians who have children in need of daycare, it would also provide the greatest aid to women and single-income families, those who are among some of the greatest financially disadvantaged groups in society.

I also regard the way in which Thomas Mulcair would implement this policy, should the NDP form the next government, as worthy of praise. Unlike the Conservatives, who are particularly fond of imposing national policies like income splitting without any external consultation, Mulcair’s policy of implementation would involve direct consultation with the provincial governments and it would be up to the provinces to determine the exact details of the program. They could determine whether to implement the policy on a flat rate per day, such as in Quebec, or whether to base the program on the family’s annual income.

In my opinion, not only would this program benefit those who are the most financially vulnerable, resulting in a more affluent society as a whole, but it would also facilitate greater co-operation and consultation between the provinces and the federal government.