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GREEN
PARTY OF CANADA
Leader: Mr. Jim Harris
The Green
Party is committed to developing a national childcare strategy
— one that includes non-profit and professional daycare,
increases support for at-home parents, enables childhood education
and facilitates family health and basic child nutrition.
Early childhood
development and education benefits all children and our society
as a whole. Access to affordable, quality childhood education
and care is essential to this development, especially for ages
0-6. Unfortunately access is severely limited because we lack
a national system that acknowledges the educational, psychological,
physical and nutritional needs of children and families.
Many women,
especially single parents, are forced to spend more time away
from their children working and/or studying. A well-planned
national childcare system would benefit children by facilitating
intellectual development and decreasing family stress.
In 1967,
only 17% of mothers with a preschool child were in the labour
force. By the turn of the century, the percentage was four times
as high — nearly 70%. Currently in Canada, we spend about
$1 of public money on preschool education and care for every
$40 of spending on education at other age levels. The Green
Party will create a National Childcare Network that shares resources
and provides funding assistance to provincial initiatives.
The Green
Party will:
- Ensure
that all communities have access to family planning and early
childhood
services.
- Create
tax-incentives for businesses to implement flexible schedules
and on-site childcare.
- Provide
educational multimedia resources for parents and children.
- Increase
families’ access to inexpensive, nutritious food.
- Enforce
pay equity for women in the workplace.
- Promote
a 32-hour work week.
- Provide
additional student loan relief for low-income childcare professionals.
- Hold
a referendum on creating a national public daycare program.
Source:
Green
Party of Canada
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