MONTREAL -- One week into a Quebec election campaign that was supposed be about nothing but the economy, the most noteworthy party promises are all about the family. Proof that, in Quebec, baby bonus is the surest shortcut to a ballot box bonus.
Deficit be damned, the Parti Québécois pledges 38,000 new subsidized daycare spaces in the first year of a PQ mandate. Ka-ching, $500-million, please. The Liberals promise a similar increase over four years, bringing the number of $7-a-day child care spaces to 235,000. Ka-ching, annual cost $2.3-billion.
Not to be outdone, the Action Démocratique du Québec is sticking to its plan from the last election to send a $100 weekly cheque to stay-at-home moms for every youngster under five. Ka-ching, at least $400-million annually, more if it prompts parents to pull their kids out of daycare.
Family policy is a fixation in Quebec, has been at least since the birth of the province's much-praised universal daycare scheme in 1998. From the most generous parental leave program on the continent and wage supplements for low-income parents, there's no better place in Canada - fiscally speaking - to raise young kids. No Quebec government that wants to stay in office could get away without promising more.
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