Posted on 01 June 2009
Ottawa June 1, 2009- Senator Art Eggleton presented to the Senate on Thursday, May 28, the the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology report, Early Childhood Education and Care: Next Steps. The Committee’s report was tabled to the Senate on April 28, 2009.
The Senator gave a vibrant address to the Senate Chamber and appealed to the Government and the Senate to take into consideration the recommendations made in the report. Senator Eggleton ended his plea by posing the following challenge to the government: “Honourable senators, said Senator Eggleton, why not early learning for our children? Why not unlock the potential inside every child? Why not a minister devoted to making this happen? Why not a country that matches its rhetoric about its children with its resources for those children? Why not make the Government of Canada a champion for families in the 21st century?”
This Report had its genesis in a study conducted by the OECD in 2006 - a study which placed Canada last among 14 countries in terms of spending on child care and early learning. In a more recent report, by UNICEF, Canada again placed last in a ranking of early child-care services offered by 25 developed countries.
Senator Art Eggeleton is the Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology.
Please click here to read the full text of his speech.
The committee’s mandate, schedule meetings, most recent reports and minutes of proceedings can be seen at: www.senate-senat.ca/social.asp.
For more information, please contact:
Jean-Guy Desgagné
Media Relations
Tel: 944- 9162
desgaj@sen.parl.gc.ca
Keli Hogan
Committee Clerk
Tel: 613-993-9021
Hogank@sen.parl.gc.ca