McGuinty seeking to bankrupt Ontario.. one-upping the Liberal Plan for Canada and Hurting Children in the Bargain

So.


Dalton McGuinty, following up on the outrageous misuse of taxpayer dollars in its ill-fated health care records fiasco, and the resignation of his Minister of Health, seeks to push Ontario deeper into the red, and in the bargain, hurt Ontario's children in the bargain. Does his temerity know no end? No - not for a true Liberal it doesn't - because facts and expenses be damned - when they know they are right, there is no dissuading them from a bad idea, no matter what the evidence is against them (can you say "gun registry system"?)  Further - the point of this, really, has nothing to do with "helping" his Province, it has to do with creating a legacy.  Every Liberal politician from McGuinty to Ignatieff wants to be the next "Tommy Douglas" - cost and actual benefit is irrelevant.  McGuinty knows full-well that once parents get a taste of not paying or looking after their 4 year olds, barring actual bankruptcy (which is possible for Ontario), no future government will be able to persuade Ontario to give it up.  His legacy will be established. 

Yesterday McGuinty committed Ontario to a full-day "early education" (daycare) program for 4 and 5 year old children. That's right. Now you, Ontario taxpayer, have the privilege of making sure that people earning $500,000.00 per year do no have to pay for child care anymore once their children are 4. Wonderful. Just what you need with record unemployment and dismal business performance - increased government spending.

For the rest of us in Canada - well, just wait. Once Ontario gets a taste of not having to pay for their child care, as is already the case in Quebec (ok.. so they pay $7.00 per day, it's pretty much free), the nature of democracy in Canada will almost assure that it will happen throughout the country if the Liberals get into power.

Now - don't get me wrong. I think subsidized daycare to assure employment for single parents or for those who are living in the low and lower-middle income levels of society is a great idea. So would similar value tax credits be a great idea for those who would prefer to stay home and raise their children.

I have a problem with paying for child care for the wealthy. I have a problem with penalizing or at least not rewarding parents equally for tending to their children's care themselves.

Why?

Well, let’s start with a frightening statistic.

According to recent studies, nearly 1/2 of 19 to 25 year olds may be suffering from some form of personality disorder. Think about that. Half of the new group of parents and teachers and police officers and judges and so on... suffer from a personality disorder.

What's a personality disorder?

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV), a personality disorder is an "enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly from the expectation of the individual's culture, is pervasive and inflexible, has an onset in adolescence or early adulthood, is stable over time, and leads to distress or impairment." Because these disorders are chronic and pervasive, they can lead to serious impairments in daily life and functioning.

Think about that. For some reason, young people, half of them perhaps, will be suffering from a mental condition that may prevent them from becoming fully functioning parents and participants in society.

Why? There is no clear understanding of the root causes - most studies suggest a combination of genetic and environmental factors - though many studies put weight on improper attachments being formed during early child hood. Poor parenting and lack of attachment at an early age.

Getting the idea yet?

Ok.. let's go a little further. Have a look at a recent study (2008) by Michael Baker (University of Toronto), Jonathan Gruber, (MIT) and Kevin Milligan (University of British Columbia), entitled "Universal Childcare, Maternal Labor Supply and Family Well-Being". The thrust of the study? That while there clearly are advantages to the workforce by assisting in women entering the work force, the results of the Quebec experiment are not proving to be good for their children. According to the Gruber study looking at the impact of increased use of daycare:

"..we uncover evidence that children are worse off in a variety of behavioral and health dimensions, ranging from aggression to motor-social skills to illness. Our analysis also suggests that the new childcare program led to more hostile, less consistent parenting, worse parental health, and lower-quality parental relationships."

Read that again, just to make sure you got the point. Spending money that the Ontario government doesn't have, will, according to this study, result in a negative impact on children's health and behavior. It will also lead to more hostile and inconsistent parenting, it will worsen parental health, and create "lower quality parental relationships."

This past year showed the highest rates of divorce in the United States since 1976.

Ok. Now work backwards. Increased use of daycare results in poorer parental relationships and reduced quality of parenting. And, I would suggest, not coincidentally, young people are showing extremely high rates of personality disorders, which, in turn, (as less than 25% of them are seeking help) will probably result in them being worse parents and having less secure relationships with their co-parent. Can you see the cycle? The answer is to "support" parenting - not reduce it.

Isn't it about time we stopped giving lip service to the idea that the state is not equipped to parent our children. At what point do we start to realize that maybe, just maybe, the thrust in society away from the independence of the family and the importance of informal communities is perhaps serving us very badly.

Isn't it about time that we told mindless ideologues like Dalton McGuinty, "enough is enough"?

Our children are begging us to take a stand.  Don't let them down.