Wednesday April 12, 2006
Harper Backs MPs Depiction of Liberal Day Care Plan as "Soviet Style"
By John-Henry Westen
OTTAWA, April 12, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Liberal MP Omar Alghabra (Mississauga-Erindale) was incensed in the House of Commons yesterday that Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant had compared the Liberal day care plan to "Soviet style" day care. "Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Conservative member for Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke said that the Quebec model of child care, adopted by the former government, was a soviet style child care," protested Alghabra. He demanded Prime Minister Harper apologize for the remarks.
Gallant on April 10, said in the Commons, "It has been recognized, even by the defeated Liberals, that the problem of allocating billions and billions of dollars for a day care program with no control on how that money is eventually spent is the greatest weakness in the top down approach to government programs. . . The drive to provide Soviet style institutionalized day care is being pushed from the top down, not the other way around that has been suggested by the opponents of giving parents choice in child care."
Gallant added, "for the previous 13 years, Canadians ha(ve) been saddled with an interventionist government that without a doubt has been anti-family. The worldwide trend away from Soviet style institutionalized day care has been very pronounced in those countries that were formerly part of the old Soviet empire and are now democracies. Our plan to provide benefits directly to families is in tune with the experience of other democratic countries."
The Renfrew Nippissing Pembroke MP is backed up by authors on the subject.
Peter Shawn Taylor, writing in the Fall/Winter IMFC Review, 'Comparing Canada's family policy to other nations', compared Canada's Liberal day care plan to that of Hungary. "During communist rule (1949-1990), the predominant feature of the national family policy was factory-provided daycare," wrote Taylor. "During these years, childcare was seen as a means to boost the female labour supply and increase economic production. In 1980, there were nearly 70,000 Hungarian enrolled in formal daycare. Since the collapse of the Soviet Empire, child care usage has fallen dramatically in Hungary due in part to greater preference for at-home care. In 2000, the number of children in formal child care stood at 30,000."
In response to the Liberal demand for an apology, Prime Minister Stephen Harper replied, "I would observe that after 13 years in office over there the Liberals had not created any child care spaces. They had not given any money to parents. I would say their plan did crumble, just like the old Soviet Union."
Latest Headlines
- BREAKING: US Congress Passes Health Care Reform Bill 220 to 215

- Stupak Amendment to Health Care Bill Passes 240 - 194 Saturday Evening

- Major Health Care Development - Pro-Life Stupak Amendment Vote OK'd for Today

- NY Times: Dems Banking on Later Squeezing Pro-Life Language Out of Bill in Committee

- USCCB Spokesman: "Definitely Not True" that Bishops Support Bill As it Stands

- TIME Got it Wrong - Prof. George Opposed Grandiose Kennedy Funeral

- USCCB Condemnation Tears Facade off "Phony" Abortion Compromise for Health Bill

- Health Care Bill Includes Monthly Abortion Premium: House Minority Leader Boehner

- TIME Article Setting Burke Against O'Malley Called "Tactical strike" on Behalf of Catholic Left

- Dirty Fighting on Abortion Funding: Word-Games and Health-Care Theatrics Boggle the Mind

- Commentary on November 6 News

- Note to LifeSiteNews Subscribers with Rogers email addresses

- New York Gov. Declares Nov. 10 Extraordinary Legislative Session for Same-Sex "Marriage"

- Washington's Pro-Family Amendment Effort Defeated - R-71 Almost Certain to Pass

- Vote Pushed Back on Canadian Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide Bill to Dec. 2

- Elderly U.K. Couple in Good Health Commit Suicide, Complain of Assisted Suicide Law

- Texas Late-Term Abortionist and Baptist Minister Admits: "Am I killing? Yes, I am"

- New Evidence Contradicts CCHD's Findings on Accused Pro-Abortion Partner

- Quebec Priest Denies Possibility of Sexual Reorientation Therapy on TV

- New Hampshire Same-Sex "Marriage" Law in Crosshairs after Maine's Law Crumbles

- Brooklyn Bishop Criticized for Recorded Message Praising Pro-Abortion Politician

- First Group of "Traditionalist" Anglicans in Britain Votes to Enter Catholic Church

Most Read this Week
- Planned Parenthood Director Resigns after Watching Ultrasound of Abortion Procedure
- Nun Defiant Following Rebuke, but Stops Abortion Escorting
- Breaking: Dominican Community Apologizes for Nun Caught Acting as Abortion Escort
- TIME Article Setting Burke Against O'Malley Called "Tactical strike" on Behalf of Catholics Left
- Over 200 Christendom College Students Protest Abortion at Planned Parenthood Clinic
- Scottish Gay Rights Activists Found Guilty of Pedophilia Sentenced to Life Imprisonment
- Newly Identified Corporate Supporters of Planned Parenthood Named
- US Congress Passes Health Care Reform Bill 218 to 215
- Major Health Care Bill Development - Stupak Hyde Amendment Vote OK'd
- Health Care Bill Includes Monthly Abortion Premium: House Minority Leader Boehner
MORE NEWS:
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page
Last 10 Days
Archives
Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.








Back to Top