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globe editorial

Quebec's public daycare program is widely admired, highly popular and socially valuable. It's also expensive.

That's why a province with a tight budget has announced plans to cut nearly $200-million out of a system on which the province spends more than $2-billion annually. That system takes care of roughly 250,000 children, which may explain why opposition to the cost-saving measures, muted at first, has risen to a roar.

Now comes a fresh study from the Institut de la statistique du Québec that highlights an important aspect of the discussion. It finds subsidized, non-profit daycares offer a measurably higher quality of care than unsubsidized, for-profit centres.

And yet, because of the cost, the province has steadily pushed parents toward the private system by reducing budgets and limiting growth in new public spots, while introducing hundreds of millions of dollars in tax incentives to favour for-profit operators. Some advocates go so far as to accuse the Couillard government of incrementally dismantling the public daycare system by stealth.

It's a valid concern. If the ruling provincial Liberals believe the status quo is no longer affordable and think the private sector is the better option, let them come out and say so. A debate can be had over the merits of the public system. It is far from perfect. Barriers to entry remain, administrative costs vary widely and are often convoluted, and there's evidence the centres don't adequately target the disadvantaged clienteles who need them most.

The ISQ's report – which charts key indicators over the past decade – also found that while food quality, instruction and the standard of care are high, more should be done to improve security and things like constructive play time.

But in government, everything has a price. The question is how much Quebec can realistically afford to pay, and who should pay. To better target public daycare's benefits, the government introduced an element of means-testing to the $8 daily fee paid by parents. It should look at doing more of this.

But otherwise scaling back or scrapping a social program that's proved its usefulness – notably in bolstering employment among women – is not something that should be done lightly. If the Couillard government wants to fundamentally change the daycare program, it should explain its plan to voters, and make its case.

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