Provincial mismanagement and disrespect for childcare operators has finally hit a boiling point
“I jump through the flaming hoops of death and I’m beyond frustrated.” This is one British Columbia childcare provider’s description of the circus the government is running regarding the administration of childcare. B.C. parents looking forward to $10-a-day childcare are in for disappointment. Provincial mismanagement of childcare and disrespect for childcare operators has been going…
COVID-19 concerns could open parents’ eyes to the crucial benefits of kitchen-table learning
David is the father of three children. While pushing his kids on the swings at his local park in Ottawa, he confesses to other parents at the playground that he’s concerned about putting his kids back in school because of COVID-19. However, he’s also worried about keeping them home in case they fall behind. The…
Ontario's new standards have raised the hackles of activists. They should look hard at the systems they mistakenly believe are better
It's been called shocking and disgusting. The Ontario government is moving to change how many children independent child-care providers can care for. The new rules allow three children under two instead of two (not counting the provider’s own children over age four). An independent care provider can look after no more than five children at…
Marriage understands shared existence, including the economic, spiritual, social and sexual aspects of our lives
With the Ontario government’s public consultations on a new sex-ed curriculum well underway, we should recognize that both the old and new versions of the document suffer from the same fatal flaw. Neither makes any effort to educate about marriage – in fact, the word is never mentioned – as a significant social institution. The…
From health to wealth, from personal happiness to better outcomes for children, the benefits of traditional relationships are many
By Andrea Mrozek and Peter Jon Mitchell Cardus Canadian supporters of marriage are speaking up – and not a moment too soon. In a recent Angus Reid Institute survey, about 56 per cent of Canadians said, “marriage is simply not necessary” to form a lifelong relationship. Almost the same proportion (57 per cent) went on…
If abortion is such a hard decision, as even advocates maintain, why aren't women allowed the time to make it?
There are Canadian women whose waiting doesn’t matter. And then there are Canadian women whose waiting is especially terrible and reported on regularly. The Canadian Press reported on Aug. 15 that a 29-year-old whose birth control failed got the abortion she wanted. Except it wasn’t quite fast enough. She waited two months for her abortion…
A healthy marriage contributes to family stability so there’s a need for recovery of the institution. But how?
By Andrea Mrozek and Peter Jon Mitchell Cardus You could sugar-coat the newly-released 2016 Census data on families, households and marital status by applauding the rise of family diversity in Canada. Yet family diversity is so often a euphemism for family breakdown, which is something that’s generally painful. A more honest take on the Statistics…
Those lobbying for a universal system make up an unholy alliance of left and right – and very little of it has anything to do with actual benefits to children
There’s been a push for a universal daycare system in Canada for 40 years. All that time, it’s been called a “crisis.” Now, federal Families, Children and Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos promises we’ll get there “eventually.” Frankly, if we never do, it will be a decided win for families. This so-called crisis has only…
Offer money - not centres or spaces - to families and allow parents to make choices without being told the kind of care they’ll use
The City of Toronto is asking you, Canadian taxpayer, to pay for most of its new, expansive daycare plans. But Toronto actually has a surplus of daycare spaces. Municipal politicians have adopted a plan that calls for the creation of 30,000 daycare spaces over the next decade with funding requirements as high as $2.6 billion. Provincial…
The plight of the North American woman is that she can be all she wants to be, just don’t bring motherhood into the picture
“I haven’t been discriminated against because I’m a woman,” said Véronique Bergeron. “I’ve been discriminated against because I’m a mother.” Bergeron – a technical writer, holder of two law degrees, creator of a home business and mother of nine children – brought that message to an International Women’s Day event in the Ottawa offices of think-tank Cardus.…
“I jump through the flaming hoops of death and I’m beyond frustrated.” This is one British Columbia childcare provider’s description of the circus the government is running regarding the administration of childcare. B.C. parents looking forward to $10-a-day childcare are in for disappointment. Provincial mismanagement of childcare and disrespect for childcare operators has been going…
