The full text of Feb 14, 2006 speech from the throne is available on the Legislative Assembly website
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CCCABC responds:
THRONE SPEECH BETRAYS BC CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
“Today’s Throne Speech is shockingly silent on action for child care,” says Susan Harney, Chair of the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC. “Last September, the Premier signed a child care agreement with the federal government. He made a public commitment to improve access to quality child care in BC. Yet, six months later child care has fallen off the agenda.”
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Reid has high hopes for child care from Harper’s Conservatives: MLA under fire for not fighting for federal-provincial child-care agreement
Richmond News, 21 Feb 2006
Eve Edmonds
EXCERPT
Where is Linda Reid in the fight for child care?
That’s what Allison Lee, a child-care worker, expectant mother and resident of the MLA’s riding, wants to know.
And Lee is not the only one wondering.
Reid, Minister of State for Child Care, and her Liberal government are under attack from numerous child-care advocates for failing to fight for the maintenance of a federal-provincial child-care agreement which was signed in September.
The agreement would have seen B.C. receive more than $600 million in child care funding over five years.
“(The) Throne Speech is shockingly silent on action for child care,” said Susan Harney, chair of the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C.
“Last September, the premier signed a child-care agreement with the federal government. He made a public commitment to improve access to quality child care in B.C. Yet, six months later child care has fallen off the agenda.”
The first year has already been paid out and Prime Minister Stephen Harper has recently agreed to honour the second year of the Liberal agreement.
However, there is no commitment to the full five years. Critics say Reid and Premier Gordon Campbell should be fighting for it.
The vice-chair of the government’s own Provincial Child Care Council (an advisory group to Reid), Heather Northrup, even resigned over the Liberals’ lack of action.
In particular, child-care advocates are asking why the Jan. 31 deadline for producing a provincial child-care strategy has come and gone with still no plan.
That’s because that deadline was on the heels of the Jan. 23 federal election, says Reid.
“There was no one to send any information to at the end of January.”
Diane Tannahill, president of the Early Childhood Educators of B.C., says, “this was a federal agreement, not just a Liberal agreement,” and it shouldn’t matter who is in power.
She also notes that Quebec and Ontario are not letting the federal government off the hook despite a change in leadership.
“Those provinces were further along in the negotiations than we were. They had financial backing, we had a memorandum of understanding,” counters Reid.
Reid adds that Harper has made a significant compromise by agreeing to honour the second year of the plan, considering he campaigned on scrapping the agreement altogether…
But Harper’s willingness to go a second year speaks to a government that is prepared to negotiate, says Reid.
“We are on the side of building long-term relationships. It is not just about an additional three years of funding,” she adds.
Reid says she supports both Harper’s plan of an allowance for parents of children under six as well as a national child-care strategy.
Most importantly, child care has anything but fallen off the table, she notes.
“I’m a fierce and ardent supporter of a long-term child-care strategy,” says Reid…