McGuinty in Ottawa

Premiere Dalton McGuinty was in Ottawa today to discuss an investment in a new “surveillance” program – designed to track information about Ontario’s children from an early age.

The program will begin collecting information about babies approximately a month before birth, and will continue to observe and track their growth until they are at least five months old.

According to McGuinty, the information gathered will be collected in a database that will help the province better deploy its resources.

For instance, if a certain community has higher than average birth weights, it will indicate that external factors – such as the environment – need to be examined closely.

Ontario is the first province to implement such a program.

It’s an interesting concept – and I think one that could be beneficial long-term – but it will be just that: long term. I have to question investing so much money (and while I missed the actual amount – it was a lot) into such a program with the economy the way it is.