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Re See mommy run (To The Conservatives) -- May 6:
Margaret Wente states that I believe universal daycare is the answer to Canada's problems, economic and otherwise. This is surprising, considering that I have authored a number of publications in which I state just the opposite: that Canada needs a comprehensive package of policies and programs so that parents can choose the option that is best for them with respect to work and family demands. In other words, I believe that a universal daycare program is necessary but not sufficient.
I do not share Ms. Wente's presumption that all parents want to stay home ("Who wouldn't want to stay home with the kids for a few years, if you had the choice?"). While some mothers (and fathers, for that matter) want to work outside the home, others don't and many have no choice.
The Harper government's child-care allowance is welcome support for families. But it is not a child-care program. A national child-care program makes social and economic sense for kids, for parents, for business and for communities.
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-Reprinted from the Globe and Mail.