BC’s Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services
First Report
1st Session, 38th Parliament, November 2005
What did the committee say and recommend?

EXCERPTS on Child Care

The Committee received several co-ordinated written and online responses in favour of increased spending on a publicly-funded, community-delivered child care system. In light of the recent agreement-in-principle on early learning and child care between the governments of Canada and British Columbia, we received submissions that asked for the new federal dollars to be targeted at reducing child care user fees and increasing the wages of child care providers. We also heard that the government should evaluate proposals for regionalized governance and local service delivery models for the Ministry of Children and Family Development.

The comments we received include:

“We need to build a quality, publicly-funded, community-delivered child care system in Canada. We call on the Finance Committee and the BC government to: use provincial surpluses to: restore the $40 million cut from BC’s own spending on child care since 2001/02; use the federal dollars for early learning and child care to bring daycare fees down and wages up; develop child care policy and spending that shifts the cost of child care from user fees to public funding; and ensure that every aspect of the BC child care plan and every dollar of spending on child care improve and sustain quality licensed child care services.”
(Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC)

“We would like to see a strong commitment to early childhood development, including ensuring that all federal early learning and child care funding goes to its stated purpose, and restoration of the provincial financial contribution to child care to its 2001 levels.”
(First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition)

“Our budget should include support for universal, quality, affordable childcare and services to children and families. Meeting the needs of these children when they are young will save this province so much in the future. There is an extreme lack of childcare in rural communities and not many will take on the role of registered home day cares.”
(Cindy Lise, Duncan)

“I strongly believe that the capacity for local and regional governance for all children already exists in all of the five regions of the province and should be implemented in 2006. We need to go to the people who live in the communities, who know the issues, and for them to find the solutions.”
(Clifford Dezell, Prince George)

Recommendations on New or Expanded Programs

The Committee recommends that:
Point # 6
The government continue to work with the Government of Canada on the implementation of the early learning and child care agreement-in-principle, as well as consider reinvesting provincial funds for child care, and to explore ways of expanding child care options for families in British Columbia.

CONCLUSIONS

… the Committee suggests that government examine the possibility of expanded targeted funding for rural school districts, as well as support efforts to address students’ learning conditions; examine funding commitments to child care;….

The Committee recommends that:
The government continue to work with the Government of Canada on the implementation of the early learning and child care agreement-in-principle, as well as consider reinvesting provincial funds for child care, and to explore ways of expanding child care options for families in British Columbia.