SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 203

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 31, 2023 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 203 - May/31/23
Ms. Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, NDP)
  • May/31/23 10:10:01 p.m.
  • Watch
  • Re: Bill C-35 
Madam Speaker, for me, in Vancouver East, the issue with access to day care centres around three things. One, it is about affordability, so $10-a-day day care will make a difference for families. The other issue, of course, is about access to spaces and the creation of spaces, which is also critical, because there is a long wait-list of people trying to access day care for their children. Last but not least is a point the member raised. It is the issue around the attraction and retention of child care workers. The key to doing that centres around wages and working conditions. My colleague, the member for Winnipeg Centre, worked really hard to bring forward amendments to the bill to address this critical issue. My question for the member is this. Would he agree that, in order to attract and retain quality child care workers, we must ensure fair, livable wages as well as good working conditions for them?
162 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 203 - May/31/23
Ms. Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, NDP)
  • May/31/23 10:58:28 p.m.
  • Watch
  • Re: Bill C-35 
Madam Speaker, I was just reading a report done by CCPA called The Harper Record. It says: Giving financial incentives to businesses to create spaces has been tried before and failed. It was such bad policy that even members of the minister's hand-picked advisory group raised objections and was roundly criticized when the government's policy folks conducted cross-country consultations on how it could be made to work. The report goes on to say, “The fallout from Harper's child care policy will be felt for years to come. Federal transfers specifically designated for early learning and child care were reduced by almost 37% in 2007-08...In 2006, only 19.3% of children five and under had access to...child care”. The NDP and my colleague, the member for Winnipeg Centre, had pushed the government and drove the agenda to get $10-a-day child care nationally. This bill before us would address some elements of accountability with reporting, so we can have—
170 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 203 - May/31/23
Ms. Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, NDP)
  • May/31/23 11:27:11 p.m.
  • Watch
  • Re: Bill C-35 
Madam Speaker, the member mentioned the national advisory council, and the way he spoke about it, it was almost as though he was belittling it. The people who will be part of this advisory council are going to be the leading advocates for child care. To have them at the table is absolutely critical to make sure that we stay on the right path in ensuring that accessible, affordable, quality child care is made available to all Canadians. My question for the member is this: If the experts should not be at the table, then who should? Should it be the Conservatives themselves?
103 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border