Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Vancouver East states that it is essential for working mothers to have access to high-quality, accessible and affordable child care services. Families need this, and our government completely agrees with her. The affordability and quality of child care services influence parents' participation in the labour market and child development.

I am sure that my colleague is fully aware of the investments we are making in early learning and child care services, but if she needs to be reminded I will reiterate them for her.

We intend to create up to 40,000 new subsidized child care spaces across the country by March 2020 and to assist low- and modest-income families with the rising cost of educating their children. To do this, we entered into bilateral agreements with the provinces and territories following the multilateral early learning and child care framework. This framework sets the foundation for governments to work toward a shared long-term vision where all children benefit from quality early-learning and child care services. The agreements contain action plans and identify priority areas for investments for each province and territory.

My colleague will be pleased to learn that these action plans are paying off and are helping parents to find a balance between work and family.

For example, in British Columbia a greater number of young parents can now obtain free child care services while they complete their studies. In addition, the province is using the funding received through the Canada-British Columbia bilateral agreement to expand its programs throughout the province.

One such example is the aboriginal head start program, which provides prevention, tightening of family bonds, and early learning and child care services adapted to indigenous cultures. In Alberta, it is military families who benefit. Edmonton and Cold Lake now have more affordable child care options. They have access to $25 child care spaces on two Canadian Forces bases. These are just some of the examples that provide concrete evidence of measures that we are taking in collaboration with the provinces and territories to give parents access to affordable, flexible and high-quality child care services.

Furthermore, on September 17, the indigenous early learning and child care framework was released in partnership with the Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and the Métis National Council. This framework reflects the unique cultures, aspirations and needs of first nations, Inuit and Métis children and families across Canada.

The investments we are making are part of our commitment to help the middle class and those who are working hard to join it. They include $7.5 billion over 10 years, bilateral agreements signed and secured with the provinces and territories, and on top of that the investments in the Inuit, Métis and first nations communities.

We are not done yet. We also have just included in the fall financial update the notion of social innovation and the role that social innovation and housing need to play together. We have made eligible through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation the blending of these programs so that new public housing can also have new public day care spaces built on site to accommodate the complex needs of lower-income Canadians.

This government is committed to child care, committed to children and committed to families. We have not just spoken about it in this House; we have invested those dollars now and into the future to benefit all Canadians right across Canada from coast to coast to coast.

Adam Vaughan

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Adjournment Proceedings

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