Feds can't say for sure where $2 billion in child-care funding went

More than $2 billion in federal child-care funding has flowed into a virtual accountability void in the last three years.

Officials in Ottawa have few clues as to how well the cash was spent by most provinces since 2004. Provincial reports are months or even years overdue - when they're provided at all.
It's a blind spot that critics loudly warned about when past Liberal governments first started funding a national child-care system that was seen by many as encroaching on provincial social-policy turf.

Tracking hundreds of millions of dollars across Canada is like "wandering through a maze blindfolded," says Monica Lysack, executive director of the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada.

"Parents are entitled to answers."

Lysack and NDP child-care critic Olivia Chow say legislation is needed to compel timely, detailed reporting.

In the meantime, federal cash will keep flowing.

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