Canadian Election: Duelling Child-Care Plans

This issue has already played out in the national media and in the first "debate" but as I was busy with exams and only started this blog a few days ago, I am just getting around to commenting now.

The two main parties have both proposed large child-care initiatives designed to ease the financial burden of raising children.

The Conservatives want to give parents $100 every month for every child under six. This means that $1200 per year per child will be given to parents, to be taxed under the lowest, earning spouses income. They are also altering the tax scheme to reduce the amount clawed back by the federal government. Further, the Conservatives plan to use tax incentives to encourage businesses, community organizations and not-for-profit organizations to create child-care spaces.

The Liberal proposal will create child-care spaces by transferring money to the provinces to create their own state-sponsored child-care centres.

Now all politics aside, this is a truly conservatism versus socialism ideological difference. Both sides are saying that parents need some help from the federal government. The question then becomes who is best equipped to administer these funds; the individual people or the government? If you are a conservative you believe that individuals will do what is best for them and this in turn benefits the group where as socialist believe in a cradle-to-grave, big brother knows best policy. Which side are you on?

Of course their are always politics. As Scott Reid said, and as offensive as it is to most parents, some people will spend the money on beer and popcorn. And that is the Liberal argument; it wasn't a gaffe, that’s the argument, that people won't use the money for the intended use. The other cons to the Conservative Party plan is that even ultra-wealth Canadian parents will receive government money and that the plan isn't really child care at all, but just a tax-cut. However, I say the Conservative plan is about choice. Choice for parents to stay home with their kids, to have them cared for by a family member or a at a day home. All of the parents that choose these options will receive NO help under the Liberal plan. Again there is an ideological division here. Conservatives think parents best know how to raise their kids. Socialism thinks that the state sponsored "experts" are best equipped to raise kids. As Stephen Harper said, we (conservatives) believe that their are millions of experts in this country and they are called "Mom" and "Dad."

There are also cons to the Liberal plan, like the fact that they have been running on this exact same promise since 1991. Can you trust them to follow through this time? I don't. Secondly the Liberal program isn't really child-care either. It's a transfer to the Provinces to support a hodgepodge of Provincial programs. And how much of that money is ever going to go into child-care once a Liberals create a massive bureaucracy to administer the program so that provincial bureaucracies can then have their turn at the pork barrel buffet before finally a fraction of the original budget for the program actually goes to benefit the children. The Conservative Plan will deliver money right to the parents so that they may spend the money to offset the cost of child-care. While the Conservative plan will also give an equal amount of money to rich people, there is nothing to stop rich people from plunking their kids in day-care centres. While many parents tighten the belt to allow a parent to stay home with their kids, SUV driving soccer moms will be dropping their children off at state-funded day cares.

There is a fundamental divide in the two parties approaches to child-care. Don’t be sucked in by the war of words, but rather ask your self these two questions. Who is best equipped to spend taxpayer’s dollars on child-care? Parents or the government? And who is best equipped to care for children? Parents or the government? If you answered parents to both of those questions, then I urge you to vote for the Conservative Party of Canada on January 23, 2006.