Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to speak to this motion. I want to acknowledge Mr. Bromley and Mr. Yakeleya for bringing this initiative forward. In my time as a legislator and certainly in my short life of being a parent these last almost 12 years, I’ve never heard anyone say my goodness, child care is so cheap I’ll take two.

Quite frankly, child care seems to be one of the most amazing cost burdens on a young family, and as said by other speakers here today, it seems to be easily one of the immediate deterrents as to why they don’t expand their family. The cost of child care is insurmountable for most. We hear the problems about one has to stay home, because if they have more than two, then going to work is just a waste of time, or maybe it’s the mental health break that a particular parent needs from staying home to take care of all those kids. I hear that often that people are working just for child care fees and that is just ridiculous.

If we wanted to do something immediately for the working poor, those people who go to work every day, this could be something and it could be something immediately. I often hear about more tax deductions and more tax breaks, but when you look at something like a $7 daycare opportunity versus a tax break, I’m not against tax breaks, but the problem with that reality is you have to actually be making money in order to get money back. That’s one of the biggest challenges about tax breaks. So I always consider them a bit of a misnomer or red herring when it comes to solving cost and poverty problems. Tax breaks only help the rich, not the working poor.

As stated so eloquently in the motion and further reiterated by Member Bromley, the $7 per day program would help child poverty rates. As said by all, it would get more people in the workforce. It would give them the opportunity to get out and be involved and it would certainly raise the stature and health, as we’ve all talked about the working poor.

There was a time when we talked about free education and it was such a crazy thought back then. Education, it wasn’t that long ago it was for the rich, the elites, the affluent. Then it became open for the public. It wasn’t that long ago the similar arguments were made for health care; it was for the rich, the important, the affluent. Now things like that have become stalwart principles of who Canadians are. How long do we need to continue to have the argument that the most important bundles in our life, our children, should not deserve the same type of philosophy? I think we’re now coming to the point of Canadian values that could be representative in a way like Quebec has been leading on that these values should be representative of who we are to demonstrate how important our children are by doing this. This not only helps our children, supports our children, but it also supports the working families that struggle each and every day to go to work to help feed these families, help take care of these families.

In a civil society as ours, the one that we strive each and every day to improve upon, a relentless struggle such as this, to me I think this is a wonderful value that we would add to our chests, as Canadians say. You know, we care about health care, we care about education and we care about children. We’ve heard repeatedly about how this will empower women. I think that anything that helps in that direction is a serious step that should never be held back.

This motion goes much further than just $7 a day. It helps a community, this help’s the people and this will help the territory. I envy the province of Quebec. I also admire them for their boldness of trying something different.

Mrs. Groenewegen has talked about some of the challenges and I will acknowledge that she’s probably on the right track in the sense of there are concerns to be balanced out. I don’t necessarily agree with her, but I do welcome it because those challenges need to be sought out and considered, balanced and weighed. At the end of the day, we will choose the path forward.

The problem with this motion is not on this side of the House. The Members at large are asking for this, even conditional support from Members. It’s the direction that we’re looking for that the other side that we empower with the cash to hear the voices of the many. More than 50 percent of this Legislature, I’m hopeful, will vote in favour of this motion. I’m hopeful this will have positive change,

lasting change on young minds, young people and certainly working families.

So if it’s not crystal clear by now, I will be voting in favour of this so we, too, will celebrate the joys and the empowerment a $7 daycare fee a day that Quebec enjoys, our northern people and our hardworking families deserve too. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.