Charest tackles cost of living by pitching Conservatives a child care plan

Conservative leadership candidate Jean Charest is tackling voters' cost-of-living anxieties by proposing new measures to help more families afford child care.

His plan would give money back to families not covered under the new federal deal to reduce the cost of child care. It also pledges more flexibility and tax breaks for families that receive parental leave benefits.

Beyond his pledge to pause the carbon tax, this is Charest's first major policy foray on affordability. His campaign says it's the first in a series of such announcements.

The rising cost of living is already a major campaign theme for one of Charest's main rivals, Pierre Poilievre. Recent polls suggest rising expenses are a major concern for a majority of Canadians.

Charest has applauded the recent child care deals between the federal government and provinces and territories and has said he is committed to keeping those deals in place.

The federal plan would see the average price of a licensed child care spot drop to $10 a day by 2025.

The federal government also hopes to create approximately 250,000 new child care spaces.

Support for the existing deals from a Conservative leadership candidate may not mean much, since a recent agreement between the NDP and the Liberals could keep the Trudeau government in power until 2025.

Charest's plan would address costs borne by families using daycares that are not subsidized, such as unlicensed home daycares.

He's promising a Choice in Childcare Tax Credit, which would replace the existing Child Care Expense Deduction. According to his campaign, the new credit would rebate up to 75 per cent of child care expenses to lower-income families whose children do not use subsidized daycares.

Rebates would be payable monthly, rather than with each tax return.

Charest is also pledging to make the Canada Child Benefit available in the beginning of the second trimester of a pregnancy "to give families a financial cushion to prepare for their growing family," says the campaign's press release.

Charest's campaign says he also would extend the eligibility period for parental leave benefits to two years.

Charest's plan would also cut the federal tax on Employment Insurance benefits during parental leave and eliminate the EI clawback on the first $20,000 of income earned while on parental leave.