[VioletlightHeron]

You're going to have to pardon me for pointing out that your argument is neatly tailored to the shortcomings of the Liberal child care plan -- a little too neatly.

You are also arguing, in essence, that government-run daycare should be used where demand is relatively low, resulting in a higher cost to the taxpayer, rather than being used where demand is high, to reduce cost to the greatest number of people.

Regarding the claim that the Quebec experience shows that government-run daycares experience the same problems as poorly run private centers, that's clearly untrue for the reason already cited by beanmedic: your study is all good and well, but you need another study of private daycare to make a comparison. No comparing studies to assumptions allowed.

Also, to assert that government daycare aimed at urban workers is not helping those who need help in finding affordable daycare suggests you're not up to speed on the reality of the daycare market in cities like Toronto. It is, in fact, very difficult to find quality daycare in major cities in Canada.

How is demand for quality daycare from lower income people going to be low? They have more barriers to entering or re-entering the workforce than higher income/better educated/married citizens. Government programs shouldnt be designed to have the state turn into a nanny for everybody, period. By creating a set number of spaces with specific criteria for lower income families, rather than have a huge subsidized program, the government saves money and helps those who need it the most. I agree its always going to be hard to find quality daycare in major cities, but my arguement is that government perhaps shouldnt get try to be the general daycare provider for the nation, but focus on the ones without the resources to re-enter the workforce on their own. Also, the government, at least here it does, has the power to force substandard day care to clean up their act. There is also the news media to make the general public aware of the shoddy private daycare centers; in fact they love to expose that sort of thing. I'd also love to get my hands on a peer reviewed statistical survey of private day care, if you have you, let me know.