Majority of Canadians feeling politically homeless

[fluffy]

Isn't that what all decisions are based on nowadays, in our new touchy feely world that we live in? It's all about "Feelings" and the constant need to experience "warm tummy". Everything else is irrelevant.

Ummm....no.

[rustled]

fluffy, if we are truly to believe it is necessary for us to sacrifice our children's well-being because the economy cannot adapt to them being in their beds instead of up and going to daycare, we may as well concede we have lost the narrative.

But hasn’t “the economy” already adapted ? An plentitude of low-paying, part-time jobs has low income families locked into a paycheque to paycheque existence that gives them neither the time nor the means to work their way out it, and ensures a never ending supply of cheap labour to service “the economy”. This isn’t the doing of government, it’s predatory capitalism at its finest.

One potential bright spot in the pandemic that may offer some respite is the increase of working from home.

Ah, so there were no choices made by any of the people who are locked into a paycheque to paycheque existence with no way out, there was no free will involved, there are no options for them to exercise, and now the government must save them from themselves?

I don't know a single person for whom this is true. Do you? Honestly?

If we are to believe the Canadian government must save us all from "predatory capitalism" by instituting policies that strongly encourage Canadian parents to institutionalize their children in government run facilities as early as possible and in the greatest number possible, again: we have lost the narrative.

[JLives]

It's about childcare - conflating childcare with daycare is what gets us fixated on one solution - institutionalization during the daytime - regardless of whether or not universal daycare is the best way to help parents of young children pay the bills.

The best solution for many families doesn't involve two full time, weekday, daytime incomes. Supporting only the families who fit that mould should not be our goal, and we shouldn't support that policy when it's put forward by any party.

If we can agree it is not up to any political party to decide what form childcare must take regardless of family situation, it is up to us to let the parties know universal daycare is NOT a policy we support.

Universal childcare is a proposal current parents of children support. Childcare currently makes up about 1/4 of families budgets currently. When housing is around 50% in many cases that doesn't leave a lot to feed said children. And if you ditch the second parents job, you lose the house. In many cases, the only solution for families are two incomes. This is the current reality.

It's not just to bring costs down, but to provide access. I had much harder time finding a spot than I ever did paying for one. And because the was a 2-3 YEAR waitlist for spots, my youngest had to go in home daycare and they are just not as good. And forget after school care, that waitlist is even longer. The ONLY reason I got a spot was because my kid became friends with the kid who's Mom managed an after school care center. Suddenly a spot opened that didn't exist when I'd called them on the phone to request one a week earlier.

And these centers have good and bad outlets like everything else but I'd hardly call the whole thing "institutionalizing children". Mine were bussed to a farm all day and ate homemade food that was grown at the farm. They helped take care of the animals, did woodworking, built go karts. You know, real institutional type stuff.

[Sparki55]

It's about childcare - conflating childcare with daycare is what gets us fixated on one solution - institutionalization during the daytime - regardless of whether or not universal daycare is the best way to help parents of young children pay the bills.

The best solution for many families doesn't involve two full time, weekday, daytime incomes. Supporting only the families who fit that mould should not be our goal, and we shouldn't support that policy when it's put forward by any party.

If we can agree it is not up to any political party to decide what form childcare must take regardless of family situation, it is up to us to let the parties know universal daycare is NOT a policy we support.

Universal childcare is a proposal current parents of children support. Childcare currently makes up about 1/4 of families budgets currently. When housing is around 50% in many cases that doesn't leave a lot to feed said children. And if you ditch the second parents job, you lose the house. In many cases, the only solution for families are two incomes. This is the current reality.

It's not just to bring costs down, but to provide access. I had much harder time finding a spot than I ever did paying for one. And because the was a 2-3 YEAR waitlist for spots, my youngest had to go in home daycare and they are just not as good. And forget after school care, that waitlist is even longer. The ONLY reason I got a spot was because my kid became friends with the kid who's Mom managed an after school care center. Suddenly a spot opened that didn't exist when I'd called them on the phone to request one a week earlier.

And these centers have good and bad outlets like everything else but I'd hardly call the whole thing "institutionalizing children". Mine were bussed to a farm all day and ate homemade food that was grown at the farm. They helped take care of the animals, did woodworking, built go karts. You know, real institutional type stuff.

You missed rustled point...

"institutionalization during the daytime" means "make it the norm for daycare to be during the day", then they went on to talk about how families require night care, etc.

[Merry]

Both kinds of childcare are needed. Daycare AND child care to accommodate shift workers.

ALL childcare is in short supply, and what is available is often unaffordable for many.

[JLives]

You missed rustled point...

"institutionalization during the daytime" means "make it the norm for daycare to be during the day", then they went on to talk about how families require night care, etc.

I suppose it's the word "institutionalized" that has connotations of tossing your kids into a sterile building that rubs me the wrong way. And I fully accept we need all forms of childcare available, as we have many different sets of needs.

[The Green Barbarian]

Will it? Who runs the economy ?

Women. It's not even close.

[Jlabute]

Code: Select all

Year...2019.........2015.........2011.........2008
Cons...6,239,227....5,613,614....5,832,401....5,209,069    22,894,311
Libs...6,018,728....6,943,276....2,783,175....3,633,185    19,378,364
NDP....2,903,722....3,470,350....4,508,474....2,515,288    13,397,834

There seems to be a lot of leeway in how people park their vote, but the last four elections most have voted Conservative. Conservatives enjoy the most voting inertia and stability and perhaps that will increase with O'Toole. Isn't he more welcome than Scheer?

Issue voting has risen with increased polarization as parties adopt more extreme viewpoints. The only issues in the news now are Climate, Reconciliation, and skin color. Occasionally a murder occurs and it is blamed on one of those three things. I don't think this reflects what average people believe and this priority list has been made to appear orders of magnitude more dire than it really is. Voters might buck against it taking Canada a little further right this year especially after suffering from Trudeau and COVID fatigue.

The Conservatives were the first to suggest a post-COVID recovery plan. That is more progressive than all other parties.

I wonder if Trudeau's whisper of a "Great Reset" has harmed his re-election.

[The Green Barbarian]

I wonder if Trudeau's whisper of a "Great Reset" has harmed his re-election.

Trying to hand the Burger boys $40 million of taxpayer cash just for being his friend and for greasing his mom, brother and wife's palms shouldn't be helping him either.

[typhoon44]

What's wrong with being politically homeless? Being thoroughly comfortable in a political party means you will continue to turn a blind eye to scandal after scandal and give the most incompetent PM one new term after another.

Maybe you’ve got a point

They might have a point if people were satisfied with government.
People who voted Liberal in the last election are not happy
People who voted Conservative in the last election are not happy
These are almost 2/3 of the country.

A majority of people will need to hold their nose to vote Liberal
A majority of people simply won't vote Conservative because of far right influence

We need a change.

[rustled]

You missed rustled point...

"institutionalization during the daytime" means "make it the norm for daycare to be during the day", then they went on to talk about how families require night care, etc.

I suppose it's the word "institutionalized" that has connotations of tossing your kids into a sterile building that rubs me the wrong way.

Sorry to rub you the wrong way. It is what it is: waking your kid up to put them in a facility where other adults manage their daily activities under the auspices of the Canadian government. (And really, what could go wrong? Never in the history of Canada have the children in the facilities for which the Canadian government is ultimately responsible has anyone ever done anything that was not proven to be ultimately in the very best interests of our children. [/sarcasm])

And I fully accept we need all forms of childcare available, as we have many different sets of needs.

You would know better than the government or any political party how best to meet the needs of your family.

Parties' promises are always suspect. Never more so when they're being coy about what the intend to deliver and how.

[The Green Barbarian]

A majority of people will need to hold their nose to vote Liberal
.

You'd have to wear a full-on haz-mat suit at this point.

[Merry]

My other grandson was in daycare prior to the Pandemic hitting, and he absolutely loved it. He’s been missing all his little friends now that he’s stuck at home with his parents all day.

While I acknowledge that regular day care doesn’t work for all families, it’s works just fine for many. And is an absolute necessity for some.

[The Green Barbarian]

My other grandson was in daycare prior to the Pandemic hitting, and he absolutely loved it. He’s been missing all his little friends now that he’s stuck at home with his parents all day.

While I acknowledge that regular day care doesn’t work for all families, it’s works just fine for many. And is an absolute necessity for some.

I agree. Wasn't Justin's jacking of the Child Tax Benefit supposed to be about helping families afford health care (and of course, buying votes, but that goes without saying). The Child Tax Benefit was further jacked by $300 per month per kid when COVID hit, despite the fact that most daycares ended up closing, as your grandson experienced. I realize that there are other costs obviously, but I was under the impression that the increase in spending by Justin was supposed to help take off some of that daycare cost burden. Obviously, that ratcheting up of the benefit is just being ignored in this discussion, as that increase in tax free cash is just something that people now take for granted, I guess.

[rustled]

My other grandson was in daycare prior to the Pandemic hitting, and he absolutely loved it. He’s been missing all his little friends now that he’s stuck at home with his parents all day.

While I acknowledge that regular day care doesn’t work for all families, it’s works just fine for many. And is an absolute necessity for some.

Kids love ice cream, too - whether or not a steady diet of it is in their best interests. I'd think all the children who weren't able to have their usual activities with any of their friends missed out, and were happy to get back to whatever their normal was.

Yes, regular day care works "just fine" for many families. Some day I'd like to see some serious consideration of the impacts of waking children up to take them to daycare.

And my bottom like will always be: Let's avoid entrenching ANY system that reduces parent choice, including a daycare system that drives up cost for families not just while they have young children, but permanently.