The Record, January 3, 2022
Excerpt: "My Dear Prime Minister,
I dare say you have been waiting in anxious anticipation for my New Year’s letter with its annual dump of gratuitous advice to assist you to make the perfect world you have created up there in Ottawa a tad more perfect in 2022.
First, however, I hope you will accept my congratulations – seriously – for one hugely important thing you did in 2021. That was the creation of a nation-wide affordable day care program. It will do more to assist women to achieve their economic potential than anything Ottawa has done since Conservative Flora MacDonald introduced the landmark Employment Equity Act back in 1985. That act guaranteed women the same job opportunities as men in the public service and federally regulated businesses – and equal pay for their work.
Universal affordable day care will remove the obstacle that blocks so many parents, overwhelmingly mothers, from the work force. In many cities, quality care costs more, per child, than rent or a mortgage. By reducing the average fee to $10 per day by 2026, an estimated 240,000 women will be able to take jobs and build careers (and pay taxes).
It should have happened years ago, Sir. You’ll recall that Paul Martin got started on a universal plan, only to have Stephen Harper cancel it. But you have done it! The only province yet to sign on is Ontario."
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