What would a public debate be without a strong dose of union fear mongering Our public sector unions have launched a campaign to ensure Paul Martin's national daycare program does not rely on the greedy corporate hucksters who currently operate daycare centers. Nay say the unions, daycare should be in the hands of the unions, for the safety of our children.

In a news release put out by the Alberta Division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Division President D'Arcy Lanovaz calls on the Alberta government to fully cooperate with the federal plan to ensure that daycare money is put in the hands of non-profit, unionized daycare shops. He criticized the current "patchwork" system of private daycares for allegations of drugging children, leaving children locked in buildings over night, and having rat poison within reach of children.

The existence of rat poison in an Alberta daycare is puzzling as Alberta has been designated as rat-free since the turn of the last century - but that's neither here nor there.

"These horror stories point to the need for a national, public system with better standards, and better monitoring of standards," said Lanovaz.

One has to wonder where Lanovaz gets the idea that union-run daycares would be any better. Look no further than the slow-motion train wreck that is our universal health care system. Our union-run hospitals treat the sick and dying like cattle, regularly choosing between who "deserves" care, and who doesn't.

That said, Lanovaz is perfectly within is rights to call for a union-only model. Where he strays is his insistence that we have union-run daycare centres to the exclusion of all others. If CUPE is confident that their model would provide better, safer child care services than private operators, then he should prove it. Why not allow people to choose which program - including the option of staying at home - they want to use If the union-only model provides the best services, than surely they will have no trouble dominating the child care market.

The government should stay out of childcare, not only because it has no business there, but also because of the government's sickening track record running programs of any kind. Do we really want another gun registry Do we want to risk having the same miserable outcomes of the current health system such as bad service, limited access, never-ending labour disputes and skyrocketing costs

What the government is trying to do, in their typically ham-fisted way, is help address the reality in society that both parents often work out of necessity. What is funny about the concept of a national daycare program is they are attempting to solve a problem they created in the first place. If the federal government didn't tax us all into oblivion we could better afford child care. Or perhaps we may even choose, and this is a shocker, to have one parent stay at home with the children.

Let's not risk another federal boondoggle. Instead of yet another massive social program to subsidize working parents, give a tax cut to ALL parents, and let them choose what to do with it.