National Child-Care: A promise caught in the winds of change

Justin Trudeau Fair Vote Canada Ontario Proportional Representation National Child Care

A flurry of photo ops and political posturing has descended upon the nation, unofficially marking the beginning of election season in Canada. As the federal Liberals look to keep the electoral winds in their sails, Trudeau has been criss-crossing the country announcing funding agreements for $10-a-day child care with several of the provinces. Could it be that a national child-care program is finally within reach?

While it does seem promising, several hurdles could undo the proposed program. As negotiations will be occurring over multiple election cycles, any change in government at the provincial or federal level could put the plan in jeopardy.

This is what happened the last time we almost got child care reform. In 2006, Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party ended the Liberal’s last $5 billion attempt to create a national child care system and sent $100 child-care cheques directly to families instead.

Did the majority of Canadians decide they didn’t want child care reform? Not in the slightest, but thanks to First Past the Post, a minor swing in support towards Harper’s Conservatives gave them the disproportionate number of seats they needed to kill the plan.

Seeing as we still use the same electoral system, it’s worth asking if history could repeat itself. The federal Conservatives have so far been lukewarm to reform, meaning a flip to a false majority Conservative government could sink the plan’s prospects. And then there’s the problem of whether all the provinces will even sign-on. In Ontario, Doug Ford has so far resisted calls to join the plan, despite a vocal opposition representing 60% of voters urging him to do so.

It’s a similar story in other Conservative-led provinces with PEI being the only non-Liberal or non-NDP government to sign on so far. If a national child-care program is in the best interest of the country, how do we ensure it stays on the path to progress?

The answer lies in electoral reform. With proportional representation, governments would be beholden to the majority of the people and not just their party’s base. This means, regardless of partisan politics, governments won’t immediately derail any child care reform plans because there’s an incentive to keep the majority of voters happy.

So, as the dust settles on the prospect of another election and the promise of $10-a-day child care, let’s not forget we could have had a national child-care program at least a decade ago and any ongoing agreements are at the mercy of an electoral system where even the smallest swing in voter support could derail the whole plan.

Only through proportional representation can we end this vicious cycle of policy reversal that pits parents and their kids against the unpredictable winds of change.


Make my vote count | Pat Steenberg, Toronto Star Opinion Article

Toronto Star Pat Steenberg Opinion Article I want my vote to count federal election proportional representation

Pat Steenberg (a former CBC radio producer, House of Commons procedural clerk and leader of a national NGO) had an opinion piece featured in the Toronto Star recently.

“How will I make my voice heard in the next federal election? I want to vote, but cannot support any party.

This is not because all parties are bad, or that none are good; I simply recognize that our first-past-the-post electoral system ensures that all parties — all legislators — behave the same way.

Since the 1984 federal election, the last in which any party received a majority of the popular vote, the average government plurality (share of the vote) was less than 40 per cent.

Given that our federal voter participation rate over most of this period has been hovering in the mid-sixties, Canadian governments sit with the support of roughly one quarter of Canada’s eligible electorate.

This is not only undemocratic, it is fundamentally wrong.”

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Picture It #2: Diverse Representatives

Continue volunteer Nancy Carswell’s “Picture It” PR series with her next video on how our Parliament would be more diverse and our decision-making more cooperative!

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fair vote toronto proportional representation electoral reform canada volunteer rendezvous

In 2007, the Canada Elections Act was amended to provide for federal elections to be held on fixed dates. Previous to this, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms simply said the mandate of a government could not be longer than five years. The fixed date is the third Monday of October in the fourth calendar year following the previous general election. Since the last federal election was held on October 21, 2019, the next fixed election date is October 16, 2023.

When he proposed the change to the Elections Act, then Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated, “Fixed election dates prevent governments from calling snap elections for short-term political advantage,” The Act, however, does not preclude an election being held earlier if the Governor General, on the advice of the Prime Minister, dissolves Parliament.