44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 6, 2023 10:00AM
Mr. Speaker, I would say through you to the member and those moms that this is exactly why Bill C-35 exists. It is so typical of the Conservatives to say there is a problem, throw their hands up and do nothing. What Bill C-35 would do is commit the federal government to long-term funding to create additional spaces to make sure there is that access right across the country. In fact, included in the legislation is a comment specifically about rural child care. The member should talk to the provinces and territories, because they have really good access plans when it comes to increasing access to child care.
However, if it were not for this legislation and those agreements, none of those problems would be solved. We are working to do that.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister really hit the nail on the head. Conservatives are complaining that they want to get this bill right and want to do all this work on it, yet the only amendment they brought forward was to change the short title. Let us think about that. They are satisfied with everything except the name of the bill, as if that has any significance to Canadians.
This is a bill and a program that has been adopted by every jurisdiction in the country, including those of all the Conservative premiers throughout the country. I wonder if the minister could comment on the success of getting a program together that has been bought into by the entire country.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Kingston and the Islands is right. There is only one political party in this country that is opposed to it, and it is the federal Conservatives. Every provincial Conservative party has signed on to the early learning and child care agreement. It does raise the question as to what is wrong with the federal Conservatives that makes them not believe in affordable, accessible, high-quality, inclusive child care.
Even some of the provinces that were the last to sign on, provinces led by Conservatives—Alberta, New Brunswick and Ontario—have fully embraced the Canada-wide early learning and child care initiative and are doing an excellent job of rolling it out. It is not going to be built in one day, but they are doing a really significant job in terms of adding additional spaces, creating more affordability and ensuring high quality.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank everybody who has contributed to this debate, a debate that feels like it is going to go on forever with the Conservatives' stalling tactics.
I certainly agree that we are in a child care desert. The Conservatives made note of the CCPA report time and time again. It was never about privatization of child care, however. It was about a worker shortage and the need to ensure that workers are provided with benefits, livable wages, retirement provisions and better working conditions, and the need to put forth a real workforce strategy in the child care field so that we have caregivers who can help deal with this crisis.
I am wondering if the minister can confirm whether or not her government is ready now to put forward a comprehensive workforce strategy that is funded and supported by the federal government.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for her collaboration on Bill C-35. It has been an absolute pleasure to work with her on advancing this bill. We have had many conversations, and I share her deep commitment to ensuring that workers are fairly compensated and have the supports they need to thrive as child care workers.
Workforce supports are indeed part of each of the bilateral agreements and action plans. I will be meeting with my provincial and territorial counterparts this summer to come up with a more comprehensive workforce strategy.
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Mr. Speaker, it is really frustrating to hear nonsense coming from the member for Kingston and the Islands, but that is nothing new.
He said that Conservatives only had one amendment; that is not true. In committee, there were a lot of Conservative amendments, a lot of very thoughtful, reasoned amendments that were brought forward to try to improve the bill. To then say that we are going to prevent any further debate on this bill because we do not like what the Liberals are bringing forward is frankly disrespectful to all parents who are struggling to find child care right now. That is so disrespectful.
I have heard from hundreds of families, parents, moms and dads who cannot even find a space. They need flexibility. They do not need Monday-to-Friday, Ottawa-knows-best child care. Frankly, the government has not been listening to them. I am asking not to have this time allocation and to listen to the families and allow some time for this flexibility.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague on the birth of her second child and welcome her back to the House. It is great to see her here with her baby.
I would just like to set the record straight, though, because there is actually nothing in the legislation that would prevent flexibility. In fact, in her home province of Alberta, when it comes to auspice, there is a mix of for-profit and not-for-profit care in the growth plan. There are also some really creative ideas about after-hours care and irregular time schedules in her own home community to make sure that child care is available.
Despite what the member was saying and despite what the Conservatives are saying, there is nothing in the bill that would prevent that kind of innovative, flexible child care from advancing. Home care is included as well.
We want to make sure parents have choice across this country; they do not currently have it, because it is not available.
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Mr. Speaker, I just went to the Boys and Girls Club in Parksville and met with the staff there. They shared with me that there are 45 kids on their wait-list and talked about the impact of child care and the agreement with British Columbia and Canada and how critical it is that we continue to move forward.
This is also well supported by the chambers of commerce and the business community in my riding. It is absolutely critical in helping to solve the labour market shortage. As cited by my colleague from Winnipeg Centre, the biggest challenge is the workforce and to make sure there are early child care educators who are trained and will be able to be paid well and receive a living wage. That was absolutely essential. Of course, affordable housing came into the mix.
Is the minister going to come back with a comprehensive strategy on how she is going to resolve these differences? Absolutely, the situation is urgent in all the communities in my riding, and it is urgent that we move forward rapidly.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the NDP members as well as the Bloc Québécois members for their support, because we are going to be able to move forward with Bill C-35 despite the delay tactics of the Conservatives. For all of the reasons he mentioned, it is important to move this legislation through the House so that we can ensure Canadians have access to high-quality, affordable and inclusive child care.
When it comes to the workforce, British Columbia is doing some excellent work. It has instituted a $4-an-hour increase for all child care workers. It will be coming out with a wage grid soon. We are going to continue to work in partnership with British Columbia and in fact all provinces and territories to make sure the workforce is well compensated and well respected right across this country.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by applauding our colleague's leadership. I thank her for what she said about the connection with Quebec families who have reaped the very real benefits of affordable and accessible child care for almost 25 years now. I have certainly experienced it myself.
I would also like to mention the $6 billion allocated to the Government of Quebec to further improve the system, which is not perfect yet.
I would like her thoughts, as a young mother, on how investing in accessible and affordable child care can have a positive impact in terms of promoting gender equality, reducing poverty and ensuring the equitable, meaningful development of all children across the country.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague held my position before me and I know he is also a champion of child care and early childhood development centres.
This is an excellent question. We are seeing results already. Since November, more women have been active in Canada's workforce than ever before. Part of the reason is our early childhood and child care program. We are seeing an increase in women's economic empowerment.
I wonder why the Conservatives do not support economic empowerment, based on their track record over the past 25 years in Quebec.
We also know that early childhood is the most important stage of development in every person's life. This program, which is based on quality and inclusion, is critical to ensuring that current and future generations of children have greater opportunities than we did.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to start by thanking the hon. Minister of Families for her work, her non-partisan spirit, and the fact that from day to day, frankly, she inspires me, so she may be annoyed to find that I cannot vote for time allocation on Bill C-35, because we need to stop using time allocation in this place as if it is routine.
I protested it when it was done to us time and time again when the Conservatives were in power. In a majority government under former prime minister Stephen Harper, it was used abusively. I knew then that if it happens once, it keeps happening, so now it is being used abusively by the Liberals.
I know there are good reasons and serious provocation behind why the governing party wants to do this. I would say to my dear friends across the aisle that it does not help when the leader of the official opposition tells the Canadian media and the Canadian public that the Conservatives are going to use every sneaky trick they can to gum up the works.
The truth of the matter is that if this place used our rules, which would be that no one is allowed to read a written speech, or if every member in this place did not fill up all the time by forever giving speeches that are not always truly inspiring but definitely take up the time, we could make this place work better.
I appeal to all sides in this place to let good legislation like Bill C-35 move through this House properly without time allocation.
A gag order is not a good idea, regardless of the party in power.
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Mr. Speaker, of course the affection for my hon. colleague is mutual. I also feel inspired and deeply respectful toward her as well.
I understand where she is coming from. I do not think this is something we want to do, but unfortunately the Conservatives have forced our hand in a way, because they are not letting good legislation through simply by the fact of being opposed to it.
As I said, there is not another political party across this country that is opposed to this child care legislation; it is only the federal Conservatives. Every single provincial Conservative party is for this legislation. In fact, most of them have signed bilateral agreements with us to move this measure forward.
Therefore, in many ways I share the regret of my hon. colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands, but unfortunately the Conservatives have decided that they are going to gum up this place and are not going to let good legislation pass that will truly benefit Canadians. Honestly, I think that needs to reside within their conscience.
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Mr. Speaker, how can Canadians trust a government that is quite happy to talk about an announcement and very unhappy or unwilling to talk about results?
We asked the government how many child care spaces in the communities have been created across Canada and how many families have access as a result of this legislation. It said that it is not tracking the data.
We do not know if the child care agreements with the provinces are leading to more spaces. In fact, in my community, there is not one space available for $10-a-day day care, yet the government said it has increased access to Canadians all across the country.
Will the Liberals commit to even just reporting on the progress they make, or are they just going to hide their heads in the sand and bury them with the failures as they always do?
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Mr. Speaker, I find it very unfortunate that my hon. colleague is not basing his question on facts, because when I was at committee I was very clear that we have created 50,000 new spaces across the country.
In fact, we do have reporting in the legislation. The legislation requires the government to report on an annual basis as to the progress we have made. I can tell the hon. colleague that across this country there are now six provinces and territories that have already achieved $10 a day, and those remaining have reduced fees by 50%.
If the hon. colleague had taken the time to read the legislation, the action plans and the reports, he would have a question based in fact.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for her speech. There is still one thing missing from Bill C-35, and I would like to hear her comments on that.
It should be pointed out that the early childhood centre model and the vision of offering education to children who are not yet of school age was implemented in Quebec. That is where the model comes from. That expertise is even recognized throughout the world.
Quebec's contribution was recognized in black and white in a previous bill. This bill, Bill C‑35, currently mentions a five-year period. What will happen after five years? Will the federal government start another dispute over Quebec's right to opt out with full compensation in recognition of its expertise? Why was this not included in black and white in this bill? For now, it is all right, but what will happen in five years' time?
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Mr. Speaker, I think there are two things that need to be separated. There are the five-year agreements we signed, and there are laws, which have no expiration date.
The important thing is that this bill applies to the federal government. It does not apply to the provinces and territories, which have their own laws because that is their jurisdiction. The amendments proposed by the Bloc Québécois to recognize Quebec's leadership were deemed inadmissible by the House of Commons, not by the government. They exceeded the scope of the bill.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to take a brief moment to thank the minister for her work establishing a new passport office in Prince George to serve northern B.C. It is something I pushed hard for and it is going to make a real difference for the 300,000 people who call that region home.
Moving to child care, the government's agreement with the Province of British Columbia is making a difference in the northwest. I know a lot of people are pleased to have access to lower cost child care. However, the big challenge we face is, as she well knows, recruitment and retention of new early childhood educators. These positions are not paid nearly enough for the role that they play in our society.
What role does she feel the federal government has in ensuring that these positions are compensated properly and that we are able to recruit good people into these important roles?
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Mr. Speaker, I, too, was very pleased to see the opening of the Prince George passport office. There will be about 20 additional offices that will be providing passport services across the country over the coming months.
I do want to commend the leadership of the Government of British Columbia when it comes to workforce. It has some very innovative ideas when it comes to recruitment and retention. One of the things that they are leading the country on when it comes to recruitment is that they have created a new high school accreditation program for ECEs that is going to allow high school students to do their grade 11 and 12 combined with the college ECE program, so that once they graduate from high school, they can enter straight into the child care workforce. It is innovative ideas like these, which are happening through the funding that we have provided to the provinces and territories, that are really going to make a difference when it comes to recruitment and retention.
The federal government will continue to work in partnership with provinces and territories, to ensure that we address the challenges that we are facing within the child care sector.
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Mr. Speaker, at the end of the day, the legislation that we are going to be trying to get through the House, with or without Conservative support but I tend to think that it will probably be with, is the legislation that will genuinely impact so many Canadians. This is going to change not just the manner in which parents are able to care for their children, but it is going to change the way that our economy works. It is going to change the labour force participation.
I am wondering if the minister could comment specifically on the impact that this will have in so many more people getting into the labour market and what that will mean for our economy, as our economy continues to grow as a result.
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