Childcare Plans: Choice vs. Statism
June 30, 2005 · By Tom Cerber
Macleans reports on the Conservatives’ plans for childcare. Whereas Social Development Minister Ken Dryden wants to create a national system of “regulated centres” (= gov’t run), the Conservatives, led by Edmonton MP Rona Ambrose, want to create a system of vouchers (or direct payments) where individuals can spend the daycare money any way they want:
Ambrose said choosing relatives to provide care is particularly important to many immigrants. “We find this a lot with people from ethnic minorities,” she said. “They want their kids to stay home for the first few years with grandma and grandpa who speak, let’s say, Punjabi. It’s often the children’s only opportunity to learn a language and culture.” She added, though, that the Conservative plan would also try to stimulate creation of daycare centres and spaces — but through business tax breaks, instead of transfers to provinces. “Our basic thrust is to offer capital cost writeoffs and tax incentives so large workplaces and employers will create daycare facilities on-site,” Ambrose said. “It’s an opportunity to work with employers to build infrastructure.”
While indicating the Conservative plan may be more expensive than the Liberals, Ambrose understates the benefits of the Conservative plan. One can joke that gov’t run daycare will be of the same quality as gov’t run postal services, public school, public university, Petrocan, CBC, etc. Moreover, gov’t run daycares will hinder the ability of parents to choose what cultural and religious values get taught at childcare.
To put it into stark terms: there’s no frickin’ way the gov’t would allow children to be “exposed” to religion in its daycares.
Liberal philosophers like John Stuart Mill rejected gov’t run public schools because it undermines consent: people must derive their understanding of gov’t and society independently. Government-run daycare is even more statist than what Mill feared.
I’m willing to spend a little more money on a daycare voucher plan to preserve whatever’s left of my freedom.
Tom: You should also say that part of the CPC plan is to grant direct payments to parents, not just vouchers, from what I understand. Generally, a voucher is like a rebate coupon. If it were just that, it opens the question: what will parents who don’t want to place their children in daycare (who prefer to stay at home with their children) do with the vouchers?
Thanks kaqchikel.