Child-care advocate says Harper government deserves to fall
By Pieta Woolley
Georgia Straight
Jan 27, 2009

Susan Harney isn’t surprised that Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s 2009 federal budget doesn’t include a child-care program.

She’s the chair of the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C., and she thinks Stephen Harper’s Conservative government should fall, based on the omission alone.

“I’m not arguing this in a self-interested way,” she told the Straight in a phone interview today (January 27). “I think childcare really represents supporting women in this country, and beyond that, supporting dual-income families. It represents working people, the middle class. And it also is a program that when you think of child poverty, childcare is a key element that could make a huge difference. So I think the government should fall.”

Harney said that the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada has presented the Harper government with a thorough economic argument for funding a universal, affordable, accessible child-care program.

The government’s refusal to invest in childcare, she said, shows that there’s something other than money preventing the investment. She wants to figure out what that is.

That the Liberals will likely support the budget, Harney said, is equally disappointing.

She said she believes that, instead of doing the right thing, they’ll support this child-care-free budget to buy time so they can rebuild the party’s coffers for a later election.

Harney noted that, in an economy when adults are potentially looking for work or looking to return to work, childcare can be the difference between a successful job hunt and a trap.