With the stated aim of preventing “two-tier” childcare from emerging, the Quebec government recently blocked subsidized private daycare centres from engaging in extra-billing for supplementary activities. This coercive measure is a logical outcome of the centralization and standardization process that began a decade ago. Although the Quebec childcare model is seen by many as being among the most advanced in Canada or even the world in terms of family policy, the perverse effects of government management are being felt increasingly. Does this policy really suit the parents it was meant to help?

Publication of an Economic note on the living standards of people in Quebec.

How do the living standards of people in Quebec compare with those elsewhere in North America? This issue stirs up a profusion of emotional reactions from diverse standpoints. Differences of opinion stem in part from the fact that the available data fail to provide a clear image and can easily cause confusion. Some vague general indicators suggest that living standards in Quebec may be comparable to those in Ontario. Other more objective data show, however, that Quebec is relatively poor compared to the other Canadian provinces and U.S. states.

Sweatshops in developing countries.

Quebec must increase competition in daycare sector.

Is globalization responsible for world poverty?

In this second volume of the Canada Strong and Free series, we want to return to the first component of our national vision – enabling Canadians to achieve the highest quality of life in the world. While quality of life means different things to different people, in this volume we have focused on how our principles of freedom of choice, acceptance of personal responsibility, and rebalanced federalism can dramatically improve the provision of education, welfare, health care, and child care in Canada.

Le spectre d’une grève générale dans le réseau des 310 Centres de la petite enfance (CPE) affiliés à la CSN – avec les tracas et les pertes de revenus qu’il cause aux parents – représente le fruit amer de la quasi-nationalisation des garderies en 1997. Depuis lors, la négociation d’une convention collective à l’échelle du Québec a engendré des grèves causant la perte de 73 000 jours personnes de travail, soit plus du double des 34 000 jours personnes perdus de 1990 à 1997 inclusivement.

A reform now taking place is modifying the social assistance program, in particular by increasing the appeal of work and encouraging recipients to make more effort to work. For this to happen, paid work has to be more remunerative than the alternative, which consists of receiving a cheque and putting one’s time to other uses.

The reasons behind high gasoline prices.