Loretta Czernis’ comments in the president’s column (CAUT Bulletin, May 2006) about the Conservative Party’s child care plan suggest she is reading too much into Stephen Harper’s comments. Harper’s remark about child care “experts” is political hyperbole that implies nothing about the value of academic views and research on child care. The Conservative plan is simply a practical response to the truism that the best caregivers for children are almost always their parents. I suspect most sociologists agree with that, especially if they are also parents. I also suspect some middle class Canadians (excluding academics, of course!) object to the plan for the simple reason that it offers little after-tax benefit to them.

Art Hill
Food Science, University of Guelph