Federal NDP Leader Tom Mulcair visited a daycare centre in East York today to repeat his call for a national childcare plan.
The present government of Stephen Harper has priorities above addressing the need for affordable daycare, he told media at Boulton Avenue Child Care Centre.
“Mr. Harper’s priority … since the fall has been to give billions of dollars of money from the middle class to the richest 15 per cent in Canada,” Mulcair said.
Mulcair, who is also opposition leader in Ottawa, says his party has different goals.
“We are going to be working hard so that Canadians understand that after 30 years of promises from the Conservatives and the Liberals, It’s high time that we made it a priority in our country to have a national childcare plan,” he said.
According the party’s website, Mulcair launched his initial affordable daycare plan this past October and declared the party will maintain “one million childcare spaces” in Canada.
“The goal is to ensure that parents don’t pay more than $15 a day for a childcare space,” Mulcair said.
Noting many parents in Toronto are struggling to find quality, affordable childcare, Mulcair said the majority of them are living below the poverty line.
“We don’t find that acceptable for a country like Canada, so we want to bring in a $15 federal minimum wage,” ” Mulcair said.