Child Care Plan

[justcrowing]

Someone I have known for quite some time has just purchased a 15 yr. old 2 bdrm. condo in New Westminster - 14th floor with a view of the river, city and mountains, walking distance to shopping, for $320,000. for 1168 sq. ft. However, if one is talking White Rock, West Vancouver, Point Grey or the West End or Downtown, then yes, prices start at half a million plus and can range into the million plus dollars depending upon square footage, location, view, etc. Their daughter purchased an old house in New Westminster for $450,000 which requires some remodelling. One has to shop around to suit their pocketbook. Abbotsford can be cheaper but then there is a commute if one works downtown. Where I live in B.C. if I so desired, I can sell my new 1268 sq. ft. Custom Condo with a view for $335,000 and get my full price. Because of climate, B.C. along with a strong economy is a very popular place to reside. Even small towns/cities are becoming very expensive as they become a popular destination with those seeking cheaper accommodations.

The other day, once again, on the news.. A family needs an income (minimum income) of $129,000 per year to buy a house in greater Vancouver. How many men make $130 grand a year?

Your statement illustrates the entire problem: no one absolutely needs to buy a detached home in Vancouver for $600,000. A two or three bedroom condo in the $200-300K range provides adequate housing for most people. All they need to do is adjust their expectations or move to a different city.

I beleive that most people who insist they need two incomes to live are not being honest with themselves. What they really want are two incomes to support the lifestyle to which they have become accustomed and are not willing to sacrifice that lifestyle to support their children.

That is why the gov't should never provide a universal daycare service because it simply encourages people to make bad choices that end up costing the tax payer a lot of money. If anything, the gov't t should provide more incentives to encourage people to stay at home to take care of their own kids. Subsidized daycare, when it is available should be restricted to the truely working poor (i.e. single parent households with low income).

A three bedroom condo in Vancouver would cost between 500 and 600K...sorry you're out of touch here.

[scribblet]

Back to child care, and this is good, took it out of the National Post (subscription required so no link)

Human Resources Minister Diane Finley indicated Wednesday that millions of dollars worth of research grants and subsidies to public daycare advocacy groups and researchers are under review. She emphasized that the government will review all funded programs, not specific ones in an effort to ensure that taxpayers are receiving value for their money.

Minister Finley made these comments after gov't officials spent several hours behind closed doors with the Vancouver-based Kids First Parent Association of Canada, which is lobbying for grants and subsidies for daycare research to be slashed. After obtaining figures from the PMO, the parents group alleged that advocates of public daycare are using money from government contracts to finance a campaign against the Conservative agenda.

Any surprises there?

[Nocrap]

Back to child care, and this is good, took it out of the National Post (subscription required so no link)

Human Resources Minister Diane Finley indicated Wednesday that millions of dollars worth of research grants and subsidies to public daycare advocacy groups and researchers are under review. She emphasized that the government will review all funded programs, not specific ones in an effort to ensure that taxpayers are receiving value for their money.

Minister Finley made these comments after gov't officials spent several hours behind closed doors with the Vancouver-based Kids First Parent Association of Canada, which is lobbying for grants and subsidies for daycare research to be slashed. After obtaining figures from the PMO, the parents group alleged that advocates of public daycare are using money from government contracts to finance a campaign against the Conservative agenda.

Any surprises there?

I'd be interested to know what kind of campaign they were paying for. If it was to support a daycare plan that was being scrapped by the Conservatives, that's not really against the Conservative Gov't, just against the daycare program being axed.

[geoffrey]

What business does the government have in funding such things? If people actually care, they will fund the research.

Which they don't. Which proves that there just isn't much interest in a massive institutionalised child warehouse system.