Sharon Gregson, North Shore News

Dear Editor:

E J’s column regarding an illegal daycare home closing that you titled “Daycare Regulations Limit Parent Options” was a complete misunderstanding of the complexities involved.

The issue of too few spaces is not that regulations are too tight, it is a problem of too few spaces overall in B.C. We have only enough licensed spaces for 20 per cent of children and yet upwards of 80 per cent of mothers are in the paid workforce. That’s a huge gap and not one that we should even begin to suggest should be filled by leaving our precious young children in unregulated care – or illegal care. Recent tragedies of children dying in illegal care should be reminder enough of why we should not support too many children in unsafe settings.

Of course given the current crisis in child care in B.C. parents are desperate, with few options. That is why the City and District of North Vancouver, along with 24 other municipalities and 1.6 million British Columbians, support the $10/day Child Care Plan for B.C. which will see parent fees reduced, an increase in licensed spaces to meet demand and better training and wages for early childhood educators.

Leaving more children in unregulated settings or watering down standards so that operators can make more of a profit is not the right answer for B.C.’s youngest children. The $10/day plan is the answer: cccabc.bc.ca/plan