The message I'm getting is that parents cannot be trusted to do what's right for their kids. Only the government knows what is right. The $1200 baby bonus is an excellent idea. The liberal idea of socialized daycare would not work. First off, a state run daycare system would be quite expensive. Second, would this be federal or provincial jurisdiction? Daycare falls under the category of education, which is provincial. In other words, the Liberals do not have the constitutional right to it. Are the provinces going to get the money? With Martin's track record on giving the provinces their fair share, I think its unlikely to ever happen. Thirdly, will all communities have access to it? Some don't even have schools yet their parents may still need child care.
I think the $1200 a month baby bonus takes care of the first and third problems, and eliminates the second entirely. Its cheaper than education because the government doesn't have to pay daycare worker's salaries and it doesn't need to maintain the buildings that they are in. In more remote communities, daycares aren't needed as the parents could use the money to pay someone or even use it so one of the parents can stay home.
The Liberals however are worried that people will abuse the money. Well, what about the welfare system? There are a large number of people on welfare who get the same amount of money plus benefits without doing a lick of work. I'm talking about the people who haven't fallen on rough times, but rather those who have made welfare a living. They are doing the same thing that the Liberals are worried about. Wasting others hard earned cash on beer and other junk. The Conservatives plan is putting hard earned money back into the pockets of parents, where it belongs. Paul Martin is only upset because he didn't think of it first. He has been promising a socialized daycare for years and we haven't seen any action. Will this election change any of that? I think not.
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