From: brewnoser2@gmail.com   
      
   Hamilton Spectator - July 24, 2015   
      
   The Spectator’s View:  At last, child care on the election agenda   
      
   Surprise. Child care is going to be an issue in the fast-approaching federal   
   election campaign.  And we have Thomas Mulcair's NDP to thank.   
      
   Last year Mulcair announced an NDP government would partner with provinces to   
   create a million daycare spaces across the country and would cap the cost at   
   $15 daily.  It's an audacious plan, anathema to conservatives big C and   
   small.  But it's resonating    
   with Canadian families facing patchwork availability and costs typically above   
   $1,000 per month per child.   
      
   The NDP's big play caused both the Conservatives and the Liberals to increase   
   their focus on parents and children, and now all three parties have so called   
   plans.  Which is best?   
      
   The Conservatives recently announced Universal Child Care Benefit, which will   
   see parents get either $60 or $160 per child monthly, depending on age.     
   This is simply a modern version of the family allowance program.   
      
   The UCCB is not progressive.  It goes to all parents.  If you're a store clerk   
   you get it. If you're CEO of a hospital, you get it.     
      
   How much will it help?  As details emerge, it looks like not much.  The UCCB   
   is taxable, so an Ontario parent receiving an additional $720 in monthly   
   income will pay about $225 back in taxes.   
      
   Now consider that the Conservatives eliminated the existing child tax credit   
   of $2,255 when they introduced the UCCB.  Check with your tax person for your   
   specifics.  But many experts say the UCCB will result in only about $160 in   
   new income over a year â   
   €” a whopping $13.18 a month.    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯   
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   The chief benefit of the NDP plan is that it actually is a strategy.  In   
   Quebec, a similar effort allowed 70,000 women to work who couldn't afford to   
   previously. That's why, Mulcair argues, this is an economic plan as well as a   
   child care plan. More    
   affordable care, more parents working, more income and spending, more taxes to   
   the treasury.   
      
   The biggest hole in the NDP plan?  Cost.  Quebec is struggling with its system   
   and may have to index the cost based household income.  Mulcair says the   
   federal plan would start out costing about $290 million but that would   
   escalate to $5 billion eight    
   years in.  Can Ottawa really afford it?   
      
   The Liberal plan would cost an incremental $2 billion.  The Canada Child   
   Benefit would not be taxable but it would be scaled so wealthy families would   
   receive less while low income parents would receive more.   That makes this   
   plan the most progressive.     
   Affluent Canadian families can afford child care.  Governments should be   
   helping families who struggle.   
      
   The NDP plan is the most intriguing.  It's new social policy, like medicare   
   was in its day.  The Liberal proposal is most progressive as it helps those   
   who need it most, but neither it or the Conservative family allowance program   
   address the lack of    
   quality affordable care.     
      
   That gives the NDP the edge on this file, overall.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)