Access
to Education Must be a Conservative Priority to Ensure
Competitiveness
By: Hon. Belinda Stronach, Liberal Critic for Competitiveness and the New
Economy and Chair of Liberal Women's Caucus
As the Liberal Critic for Competitiveness and the New Economy, I believe
that one of the top priorities of our government should be to equip
Canadians with the tools necessary to thrive in our increasingly
interconnected and global world.
This means investing in our children from the time they begin early
learning and child care programs to ensuring that they have access to post
secondary education, regardless of economic, social or geographic
barriers.
Early childhood education is crucial as it lays the foundation for success
in primary and secondary school, which in turn leads to success in the
labour force. Investing in children in their early years will have
invaluable benefits to society. That is why the previous Liberal
government worked hard with all provinces and territories to create a
nation-wide early learning and child care system that embraced the shared
principles of quality care, universal inclusiveness, accessibility and an
emphasis on development and learning. Sadly the Conservative
government withdrew from these agreements and instead opted to provide a
tax incentive to business to provide childcare spaces with no early
learning component that will likely not even result in a significant
increase in childcare availability.
We also recognize that although Canadians are currently among the best
educated in the developed world, we are in danger of falling behind as
fewer Canadian youth enroll in post-secondary education. In order to
stop this trend, Canada needs forward-looking policies that make vital
investments in post-secondary access.
Although the Conservative government promised to help students wishing to
pursue post-secondary education, it has yet to follow through with its
commitment. So far, the sum total of Mr. Harper's support for
education has been an $80 tax credit on textbooks, which most students
won't even receive until the final weeks of the school year. More
importantly, this minimal tax incentive will do little to help those
students who are most in need.
The previous Liberal government proposed to encourage enrolment and
facilitate access across Canada by paying for half of an undergraduate
student's first and last year's tuition. We also introduced the
Lester
Pearson Scholarships, which were to be awarded to 25 deserving Canadian
students to study abroad and 50 international students to study in Canada
each year. Both of these initiatives were lost when the Conservative
government came to power.
It is time this government realizes that investing in early and
post-secondary education is key to ensuring a prosperous and competitive
Canada.
