The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Over 25 years ago, the Royal Commission on the Status of Women valled for the establishment of a comprehensive national childâ€"care program For a ume, politicians of all stripes seemed to accept the social and economic rationale for improved access to child care. It wasn‘t so much a question of if but of when. Even the federal Tories campaigned in 1984 on a promise to introduce "an effective national system of child care in 1987, Brian Mulroney said that "the Government of Canada, even in difficult circumstances, will find the resources necessary to do our share in making a childâ€"care program a national reality." This promise apparently meant introducing a bill in 1988, but not allowing time to pass it before calling an election. Not only did they fail to reintroduce it after being reâ€"elected, but the responsible Minister (Benoit Bouchard) later talked of his "pleasure at killing (the program)... it is now our fast pronty" Childâ€"care advocates hoped that the Chretien Liberals would do betâ€" Advocates of quality. accessible and CPORTE [ET ETTE affordable child care are in a bind With the only party with a realistic chance of forming a government failing to come through (and with an afficial opposition that is actively hostile to working families needs), they are left with few options. They can continue to expoase the crisis created by Canada‘s patchwork of inadequate childâ€"care options and to make the case for their solutions A recent study by the Childcare Resource and Research Unit, entiâ€" tled "The Benefits and Costs of Good Childcare", falls into the latter category. The paper (available onâ€"line at www.childcarecanada org) gives solid empirical evidence to back up the need for a national child care program. "The study demonstrates that, under relatively cautious assumpâ€" tions, the economic benefits significantly exceed the costs. Thus, pub licly funded child care would represent a prudent and productive use of scarce public funds." It concludes that "for every dollar spent on such a program, approximately two dollars worth of benefits are genâ€" erated for children and their parents. (Further) there is a significant public interest in high quality child care." Public funding also depends on the significant public element in these benefits. The paper argues that both benefits to children and benâ€" efits to parents have this public element. Canadian society has a conâ€" tinuing and abiding interest in the care of its young children, and it has traditionally devoted significant public dollars to education for exactly that reason. "In summary . reads the report, "good child care matters to children, to parents and to society. The benefits of such a program are likely to significantly outweigh the costs, and thus, publicly funded child care deserves a high priority when decisions on the allocation of scarce public funds are made Chronicle Telephone Eâ€"mail: _ wchronicle@hotmail.com Childâ€"care program benefits the nation OPINION AnotnER VIEW Waterloo Town Square 75 King St. South, Suite 201 Waterloo, Ontario N2J 1P2 phone: 886â€"2830 â€" 886â€"9383 ter. The Liberals® 1993 Red Book said that, "Quality. accessible child care is an economic advantage for Canada." The objective of the Liberal policy on child care is to create genuine choices for parents. A Liberal governâ€" ment, working with the provinces, will implement a realistuue and fiscally responsible program to increase the number of childâ€"care spaces in Canada." Still, despite experiencing the fiscal conditions set by the Red Book, the Liberals have abandoned their childâ€"care promises as well. Editor: Deborah Crandall Reporters: Tim Gardner Bob Vrhanac. Sports Editor Sales Supervisor Gerry Mattice Display Advertising: Bill Karges Norma Cyca There is no greater love than that of a man who will lay down his life for a friend. That‘s what the Good Book says. Suill, you may quibble that Const. Dave Nicholson never met 12â€"yearâ€"old Mark Gage. No matter. The maxim says that stranger are friends you haven‘t yet met. The duo, schoolboy and constable, were linked in the tragedy that compounded itself in the swirling waters of a hole in Cambridge‘s Parkhill Dam. Waterloo Regional police cars bear the slogan People Helping People. There‘s obviously no limit to how far police staffers will go in helping people. And at what price. Too Little, Too Late: in the wake of his maze of legal problems, Bill Clinton will hire new staff members. They must be hardâ€"working, loyal, and prone to amnesia. Brighter Note: With the loonie limping, the markets in disarray and sundry other reports portending economic gloom, theres good news for Ontario. Scotiabank says that Ontario will lead all provinces in growth this year. The provinces diverse economy should post about a 4.1 per cent gain this year, slowing to 3.4 per cent in "A growth rate of 3.4 per cent is still a pretty solid perforâ€" mance," said Mary Webb, a semior Scotiabank economist. Ontario and Quebec will produce 70 per cent of Canadas growth. She said that some 300,000 jobs should be created through 1998 into 1999, boosting housing starts and disposâ€" able income. That, in turn, will push consumer spending above 4 per cent, not to mention the leap in tourism. Now, despite all the rahâ€" rahs for Ontario‘s economy, herewith a revision to my flatâ€" footed forecast of a fall election: Now that a court has scrambled separate school funding, I‘m less certain. _ Still, there are some preparalio;ls for the campaign: All the candidates are out having their best suit mudâ€"proofed. Police officer made the ultimate sacrifice Post No Bills: D(’Spll("[‘hell' protests to the contrary, this is an ideal vear for city councils what with the public confused by Classified: David Oliver Saahira Ladha Circulation/office Manager: Caralyn Anstey Circulation: Jerry Fischer Matthew Haves Production Milhe Martin Group Publisher: Cheryl McMenemy Kerm Miller Group Advertising Manager: Butch Grieve The /ast thing i remember was going over my 1998 city tax bill..... ONCE OVER LIGHTLY Waterloo Chronicle is published every Wednesday by The views of our columnists are their own and do not necessanly represent the views of the newspaper P PaP c 2 aomum, the transfers of functions and so on. Anyhow some politicians don‘t want people to keep more money. They‘re afraid they‘ll just waste it on food, shelter, and clothing, Penny Ante: Say, have you got a jar of penmies stashed someâ€" whete? If you have, you‘re average, and the winner of a national contest to pare Canada‘s debt wants to do something about your jar. Bruce Anderson thinks new cents make no sense because it Say. it‘d be a bit like winning a miniâ€"lottery Of course, it‘d be nothing like the lotteries that pay millions. Personally 1 don‘t think it‘s right for one person to win so much in a lottery. T‘d rather get it back as a refund on my tax return Taking a Licking: It‘s hard to believe, but they‘re talking about raising the price of firstâ€"class stamps again. Imagine! That‘ like putting a coin meter on an outhouse Our postal service is obsolete, but they still keep raising the prices. That‘s like a doctor starting to charge more for bloodletâ€" ting. Postage is simply too expensive. For short notes now, it‘s cheaper to hire a skywriter. And, given the price of stamps, come Yuletide it‘ll soon be cheaper to send out Chnistmas telegrams. Say, the greeting card industry will be angry at the rate increase, but it can always send the post office nasty poems Semt TMe WIEWS 07 1NE NEROPAPE! > SR 4 _ m [eke) -l_mn/ D 2dl remi a International Standard Serial Number ISSN 0832â€"3410 The Fairway Group A division of Southam Inc costs two cents to issue a single penny. Anderâ€" son wants to cut the cost of minting coins. He calculates that doing away with the humâ€" ble penny would go a long way to trimming $1.25 billion from the national debt by the year His major proposal, unveiled some time ago, is an Ottawaâ€"sponsored campaign to stop Canaâ€" dians from hoarding more than 10 billion penâ€" nies and more than a billion nickels. The dormant coins represent 11 years of mintings. He figures the recycling of the coins would mean a mild boost to the economy because, once out of the jar, money from many coins would be spent, not squirteled away. Mailed subscription rates $65 yearly in Canada $90 yearly outside Canada +G§TL