Critics of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's child-care plan gathered for a rally on Parliament Hill Wednesday to argue that paying parents $1,200 a year doesn't address a crisis in the country.

They are urging the Conservatives to honour the plan brought in by the former Liberal government, which promised $5 billion to create more child-care spaces and early learning programs.

Several women's groups sent representatives to Ottawa for the rally, timed to occur on International Women's Day. Many of the participants brought along young children warmly wrapped up against the cold March weather.

Several women's groups sent representatives to Ottawa for the rally.
Several women's groups sent representatives to Ottawa for the rally.

Canadian Labour Congress vice-president Barbara Byers said she hopes Harper will come to see the value of the Liberal plan.

"It wasn't a perfect plan, it wasn't everything we wanted, but it was a commitment from the federal government," she said.

Harper campaigned on a plan to give parents an allowance of $100 per month for every child under age six, as well as $250 million in tax credits to create new child-care spaces.

Last month, the Tory government formally notified the provinces it would terminate the child-care agreements the Liberals put in place, ending them by March 2007.

Child-care advocate Eleanor Heap said the cancellation will be felt immediately.

"With the organization I am with, we will lose 50 child-care spaces," said Heap, the executive director of the Ottawa School Day Nursery Inc.

Tory plan won't help many working mothers, critics say

Critics say $1,200 a year isn't enough, adding that it doesn't take into account the fact that two-thirds of Canadian women with children under the age of three are in the workforce and need child care.

"We all know that providing $100 a month will not address the child-care crisis in this country," said Lise Martin, with the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women.

Security guard Crystal Fyke said the government subsidizes a space for her child, Maxim, at a cost of $710 per month. The single mother said the $100 bonus won't help her.

"If I didn't have day care, I wouldn't be able to go to work," said Fyke.

Although none of the opposition parties has said it is willing to topple Harper's minority government over the issue, Liberal and New Democrat MPs have vowed to fight the Conservative plan.

"What we've got to do now is tell the government that we want them to support the deal with the provinces," said Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett, the former public health minister.

NDP Leader Jack Layton said his party will press hard to "underline the fact that a deal is a deal."