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The Honourable Margaret McCain, discusses the importance of early childhood education.

Excerpt: "Ontario is providing a $1 per hour wage increase for eligible child care workers who qualify in the licensed child care sector, bringing the total wage increase up to $2 per hour, plus benefits. The province is also providing an additional $10 per day increase to home child care providers who qualify, bringing the total increase up to $20 per day. Both increases are effective January 2016."

Excerpt: "In March 2015, the Government of Manitoba established the Manitoba Early Learning and Child Care Commission in order to move towards implementing a universally accessible system capable of growing to meet the needs of all families looking for a licensed child care space, inclusive of centre- and home-based child care services. In pursuing this objective, the Commission was instructed to support the highly valued community-based, non-profit model, better integrate the Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) and education systems, and maintain and improve quality of care within the ELCC system."

Excerpt: "The province is taking the next steps in creating a universally accessible child-care system for Manitoba families that will include lower fees, 12,000 more spaces, increased training and better wages for early childhood educators, Premier Greg Selinger announced today."

Excerpt: "Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and Saskatchewan Health Minister Dustin Duncan, today announced the Bundled Birth Service which will give Saskatchewan parents the option to apply for a Social Insurance Number (SIN) and Canada child benefits for their newborn at the same time that they register their child’s birth."

Excerpt: "The success of f/p/t early childhood agreements are traditionally measured by the counting of new child care spaces or the size of financial transfers per child. These are inadequate measures, which on their own do not improve child outcomes. Can the pending talks open a new dialogue, informed by the best research, and centred around the best interests of young children? Can these discussions be a catalyst for turning provincial/territorial service patchworks into effective early childhood systems which finally tackle access and quality challenges while addressing the educational inequities children experience, especially those of Aboriginal heritage?"

Excerpt: "An innovative, made-in-B.C. autism research project will explore the benefits of parent coaching intervention for infants and toddlers who show early signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

The project – made possible by more than $3 million in one-time government funding – was spurred by other studies linking early infant-toddler interventions to better developmental outcomes in children with ASD and in children who display early warning signs of ASD."

Excerpt: "First and foremost, the Government believes that all Canadians should have a real and fair chance to succeed. Central to that success is a strong and growing middle class."

Excerpt: "New Brunswick’s approach to child rights enforcement is innovative in how it blends children’s rights and wellbeing. It is an approach inspired by the dominant discourses of our time: a) we follow UNICEF and the UNCRC’s child rights-based approach to policy-making4; and b) we combine it with the World Health Organization’s social determinants of health agenda5. Meaningful child rights enforcement is not merely a matter of good process, good laws, accessible remedies and educational efforts. The enjoyment of rights also has to be a demonstrably lived experience. Outcome indicators are the real evidence as to whether a child rights agenda has been meaningfully implemented."

Excerpt: "Learning is a life-long endeavour. The Learning Partners Advisory Council will help shape a culture of learning on PEI to advance the prosperity and quality of life of all Islanders. This council will advise the Premier on policies, programs and strategies needed to support learners throughout their lives.."

Excerpt: "Those involved in providing services to children and youth also have compelling reasons for understanding how children and youth are doing now and, when possible, how they are faring compared with the past. This information can help direct public resources to where they are most needed."

Excerpt: "We made a commitment to invest in growing our economy, strengthening the middle class, and helping those working hard to join it. We committed to provide more direct help to those who need it by giving less to those who do not. We committed to public investment as the best way to spur economic growth, job creation, and broad­ based prosperity. We committed to a responsible, transparent fiscal plan for challenging economic times."