OTTAWA  –  “The Liberal Party appears to have a real, ingrained disdain for everyday Canadians simply trying to raise their families and make ends meet,” says Leon Benoit, Member of Parliament for Vegreville-Wainwright. “Too many times they have disparaged parents and as the father of five children, I find it quite offensive.”
Last week, one of Michael Ignatieff's senior MPs, Carolyn Bennett, stated that raising a child isn't a "real job".

According to Bennett, "Women of Canada want to hear about early learning and child care...to be able to get back to school, to get a real job, to be able to go to work." (Hill Times, March 22, 2010)

“Really?” asks Benoit.  “Raising a child at home isn't a ‘real job’?  Has Carolyn Bennett actually spoken to any real mothers lately?”

For years Michael Ignatieff's Liberal party promised Canadians a national child care plan.  It never delivered.

Contrast this to our Conservative government's Universal Child Care Benefit, which provides parents $100 per child per month, allowing Canadian moms and dads to make the choice that's right for them, whether it's a daycare program or staying at home.

“However,” explains Benoit, “when we implemented the UCCB a top Liberal spokesman slammed the plan stating that Canadian parents couldn’t be trusted to manage this money themselves because they would blow the money on ‘beer and popcorn’!”

Then, Michael Ignatieff confirmed he would scrap the $100-per-month child care benefit on which so many parents depend, calling the payments “wasteful” and a “terrible use of public funds.” 

And to top it off,  last year Ignatieff spokesman Massimo Pacetti, MP, smeared parents yet again suggesting they will ignore their children’s needs and spend the money on themselves.

“The problem that I'm seeing is that the parents don't provide. They may have the money, but they use it for their own purposes,” Pacetti said during a meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance.

“Clearly the Ignatieff Liberals truly do not trust parents to decide what is best for their children,” concluded Benoit. “Slamming the integrity and judgement of Canadian parents?   Accusing parents of selfishly ignoring their own children’s needs?  Ignatieff isn’t in it for Canadians.  He’s in it for himself.