@_scottreid called me out on childcare on this pod, resurrecting a long-standing debate between us that was central to the 2006 campaign.

I'm going to put aside that debate to argue that even if Scott's side had won the debate in 2006, it wouldn't solve today's problem. https://twitter.com/TheHerleBurly/status/1278122790525325313

Even if we had all the spaces we needed in February of this year, we would still be vastly short of spaces today because the shortage of spaces is a function of social distancing rules and the inability of many childcare centres to pay the bills under that new reality.

Put another way: Up to one third of existing providers cannot reopen, and those that do can only take half the children they did in February.

So the problem would exist even if governments collectively had built all the spaces needed before the pandemic.

@_scottreid says "cash for parents" is inferior to government building spaces, and we were short in February and are super short now.

I don't entirely dispute shortages pre-pandemic. I do dispute that governments are, or should be, capable of building those spaces itself.

And I dispute that getting government to build those spaces is superior to giving cash to parents as a way to drive demand for those spaces.

But this is just our long-standing argument... one that, as @_scottreid says on the pod, we won and @JustinTrudeau has continued.

But, just because I want @_scottreid to see I'm capable of addressing the current shortage, I commend this piece, written with @JenniferRobson8, with some very concrete ideas for creating more spaces right now, to address the pandemic shortage. https://www.cdhowe.org/intelligence-memos/boessenkool-robson-%E2%80%93-thoughts-forestalling-coming-childcare-crisis