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Alberta Finance Minister Iris Evans unwittingly reignited the country's emotional mommy wars debate when she suggested raising children “properly” means one parent needs to stay at home.
Ms. Evans, 67, made the controversial remarks this week in Toronto, along with several others, including linking lack of education with mental illness, at the end of a speech on Alberta's economy.
While she has released a statement saying that she never meant to “offend” anyone and that her intention was not to “suggest there is only one way to raise a child,” the veteran politician's remarks have set off both sides of the parenting debate.
The issue was brought to the top of the public agenda this week when the Ontario government proposed that daycare and kindergarten for four- and five-year-olds be rolled into one all-day program in provincial schools. The proposal was criticized, but many parents loved the idea, in part because it would free them from child-care duties and allow both to work.
Clarence Lochhead, executive director of the Ottawa-based Vanier Institute of the Family, said several surveys have found that many parents would like to raise their children by having one person stay at home, but their “economic reality” often requires both to work.
Mr. Lochhead said society needs to move beyond debating which approach is better, and instead support parents with the appropriate measures so that both models are successful.
Martha Friendly, executive director of the Toronto-based Childcare Resource and Research Unit, said studies show that good quality early-childhood education – that includes daycare programming – benefits youngsters. The suggestion that working parents are doing their children a disservice is “disrespectful,” she said.
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Several people, including Alberta Liberal Leader David Swann, are calling on the Finance Minister to apologize unequivocally. Dr. Swann said the comments insulted working parents, as well as the mentally ill. Ms. Evans suggested that mental illness and criminal behaviour could be linked to children not being educated properly.
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In Alberta, reaction to Ms. Evans's remarks has been mixed but largely supportive. Callers to the Dave Rutherford radio program on CHQR in Calgary, which is generally considered a pipeline to the conservative-minded in the province, were offended by the Liberal demand that Ms. Evans apologize.
“I wish we would have more of this kind of conservative talk quite frankly,” Mr. Rutherford said.
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- reprinted from the Globe and Mail