The Canadian Child Care Federation (CCCF) presents the position that:

	investing in child care for all of Canada's children is fiscally and socially responsible;and
	assuring quality in child care is a shared responsibility and an immediate priority.

"The child only has his or her one chance to grow. And for the sake of the child of today, and the world of tomorrow, that one chance should, as far as is humanly possible, be protected against the misfortunes, mistakes, and mismanagements of the adult world." - Peter Adamson, The Progress of Nations, United Nations Children's Fund, 1993

Consider the following reports from some leading Canadian authorities. "Everywhere we look in Canada, we find children failing to flourish, and therefore unable to achieve their developmental potential. Rich kids, middle-class kids, poor kids; all are dealing with risk and neglect unimagined and unimaginable in previous generations... Unless we as a society are prepared to invest in making resources available for hard-pressed families and for meeting children's primary needs, a burgeoning human resource deficit will undermine our capacity as a society to compete, sending our economy and the quality of life within it, into a tailspin." -The Sparrow Lake Alliance (a coalition of 11 professional groups that work with children and six Ontario government ministries) 1

"There are three conclusions to draw about the family in the 1990s. First, the family faces more economic insecurity in the 1990s than it has in the recent past, perhaps since the 1930s. Life is less predictable; people are therefore less confident about the future and less confident about their ability to cope with the hazards that come their way. Second, the family sinews are not as strong in supporting and nurturing children and young people. Third, the economic hardships are concentrated among Canadians under the age of 35. These are the critical years of family formation and childbearing." - Judith Maxwell, former chair of the Economic Council of Canada ²

"Nations that fail to understand the determinants of economic growth and the economy's relationship to the health and well-being of their populations are likely to become societies in decline... It is hard to build a modern economy with a handicapped population..." -Daniel P. Keating, professor, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, and J. Fraser Mustard, president, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research ³

As a signatory of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Children, Canada made a commitment to give children first call on the nation's resources. We have a shared responsibility for the well-being of Canada's children. As well, the health and prosperity of Canada's future depends upon the healthy development of our children.

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