HAH! #3 (en francais)

With thanks to Conservative MPs Rona Ambrose and Carol Skelton for today's HAH! inspiration - Child Care. Thanks to the Liberals and Ken Dryden, soon to dwarf the Gun Registry in terms of bureaucracy, waste and ineffectiveness.

First, the CPC policy on Child Care:

66. Child Care

The Conservative Party recognizes that parents are in the best position to determine the care needs of their children, and that they should be able to do so in an environment that encourages as many options as possible, and in a manner that does not discriminate against those who opt to raise their children in family, social, linguistic, and religious environments. We also recognize that the delivery of education and social services are provincial responsibilities under the constitution. We believe that support should go to all parents and families raising children, especially to lower and middle income parents. All existing levels of support will be maintained and improved if necessary.

Now for the really interesting part - Ken Dryden - our esteemed Minister. He has no idea what the National Day care program will cost, it probably won't be universal in scope, and it will be applied differently across the country. ??? For something the Liberals have been promising since the first Red Book, you would think they could rustle up a detail or two. I mean, c'mon - it's only been 12 years!


Dryden Admits Child Care Plan will not be Universal

13 June 2005

Conservative Plan is Universal and Supports Choice

OTTAWA- Carol Skelton, critic for Social Development and Rona Ambrose, critic for Intergovernmental Affairs today questioned the Minister of Social Development about his admission that his national child care system will not be universal and he has no idea what it will cost.

"The Liberal daycare plan only supports one choice – 9:00 am to 5:00 pm institutional daycare and will only increase funding for those spaces by three percent," said Ambrose.

"The Social Development Minister openly admits that he has no idea what he’s doing or where he is going. He finally admitted his child care plan will not be universal, costs aren’t calculated and children will be funded differently based on where they live,” said Skelton.

“Why is the Minister abandoning low-income Canadians, shift-workers and rural Canadians while misleading them with a story of inclusion?” asked Skelton in the House of Commons.

Ambrose added that almost 100 percent of working parents have said that if they could afford it, they would stay home part-time with their children.

“Not one cent of the liberal daycare plan will support that choice for parents. The Liberals are intent on creating a two-tier childcare system. When will this government understand that all children deserve equal support and all parents deserve choice?” asked Ambrose.

Skelton concluded by saying, “the Conservative Party of Canada plan is truly universal. We will put cash subsidies into the hands of all parents so they can make their own childcare choices.”


Honestly, let's put this in perspective:

• they lost a couple of billion dollars somewhere in HRDC,
• underestimated costs by some 2 billion for the Gun Registry,
• send our air force into the sky every day in flying death traps called Sea Kings (they were already old in 1984 when I first flew in one)
• sent the army to Afghanistan in Iltis jeeps that even the broke, desperate Afghani military doesn't want - and though they'll never admit it - cost CF personnel their lives,
• are willing to send the military to Darfur, arguably one of the most desperate situations in the world right now, to try to buy the vote of a dissident Liberal MP
• are closing RCMP detachments across Canada; ...

These are the people that we want to entrust with our future - OUR CHILDREN?

That ladies and gentlemen is the truly scary thing to behold.