Who knew a few weeks ago that this Canadian federal election – the election “about nothing” – could become so exciting?

With E-day just around the corner, the unimaginable has occurred – the Liberal party, which has dominated Canada’s political scene for decades – looks as though it might implode altogether. Many are blaming Liberal leader Ignatieff who has not resonated with everyday Canadians, but I’m not sure how much of the dip in popularity is really his fault.

I’d call it the perfect storm, and at least in my eyes, some of the credit goes to Gilles Duceppe. You see, during the debates, Duceppe looked at the extremely likable Jack Layton, square in the eyes, and told him that he would never be prime minister. This seems to have stirred something deep in the Quebec consciousness – perhaps a sentiment of being the underdog – and since then, the polls have indicated an absolute tidal wave of support abandoning the Bloc and washing over Jack Layton’s NDPs instead.

A perfect storm indeed. With the NDP’s popularity surging in Quebec, socialists in Ontario and other provinces have started to ditch the Liberals and jump on board with the unsinkable Captain Jack.  At this point, the polls consistently show the NDP in second place, well ahead of the Liberals, and just a few percentage points behind the Conservatives. It’s anybody’s game.

What does any of this have to do with work-family balance?

There may not be a defining issue in this election, but each party has agreed that families matter. Each party is courting the family vote (even the Greens!), and I’d like to help you unpack the various platform promises being made to families.

The Conservatives were the first out of the gate with a tax credit for individuals who provide care for family members. This is a great idea which will help to address our aging population, and the other parties seem to agree. The Conservatives have offered a modest tax credit for families who enlist children in various extracurricular activities. These policies are in addition to their Universal Child Care Benefit that provides $100 per month for children under the age of six. The Conservatives have promised to double the contribution limit for tax-free savings accounts. They have also proposed tax-splitting for couples with children under 18. This means that if one parent is making more money than the other (as is the case when one parent stays at home to raise children), they can split their income between the two parents, resulting in a lower tax bracket. Stephen Harper is set on balancing the budget first, so we wouldn’t see this come into effect until 2014 or 2015. I respect fiscal responsibility, but really, this type of income-splitting should have been implemented decades ago. It seems only fair. When one parent is forgoing a formal salary to stay at home and raise kids, it is actually both parents who are working in order to bring home that single salary. Still, the other parties are not mentioning this income-splitting idea in their platforms at all as they focus instead on creating publicly funded day care.

The Liberal platform includes $500-million for early childhood learning – in other words, public daycare. This is not nearly enough money to create universal daycare, mind you, but the idea is to create government-funded spaces for low-income parents first, and then work toward a universal daycare system based on the Swedish system. So look for this price tag to go up, way up. (Parents who would prefer to raise young children at home or rely on family would, of course, pay taxes into this system without reaping the benefits.) The Liberals have also suggested a $190-million increase for EI benefits for family caregivers and $545-million for a family care tax benefit. They have further proposed $980-million for a post-secondary “learning passport.” Some of the Liberal’s promises would be implemented immediately while others would be funded in year two.

The NDP have promised… well, what haven’t the NDP promised? Let’s do this one in bullet form.

• EI “Compassionate Care Benefit” to permit family members to take up to six months of leave from work to tend to relatives near the end of their lives (up from the current six weeks)
• A “Caregiver Benefit” to assist low and middle-income families caring for elderly or dependant family members, up to $1,500 per year.
• A Canada-wide child care program with 25,000 new child care spaces created per year for the next four years.
• $800 million to lower post secondary tuition fees, plus $200 million per year for the Canada Student Grants Program
• An increase in the education tax credit from $4,800 per year to $5,760 per year.
• An additional $700 per child on top of the current Universal Child Care Benefit

The NDP promises to implement their offerings immediately.

With all of these great policies being offered, the voter has to not only ask which ideas are best, but also, how much these policies would cost, where this money would come from, and which party is most likely to deliver on their promises.

At WFFC we’re thrilled to see this growing interest in families. Of course, this interest might have something to do with the fact that the most hotly contested ridings of 2008 were in suburban areas with a disproportionate number of young, educated families. Still, whatever the reason, we’re happy to see family-friendly policies across the board.

The outcome on Monday is looking to be quite unpredictable. One thing is for certain – I’ll be up late with a bowl of popcorn (or maybe a shot or two of espresso) watching the results roll in. It should be a nail-biter.