“Quality child care is no longer just a social issues; the business community of BC now views child care as one of the key factors in addressing the labour shortage in BC. The ability to recruit and retain workers in all industry sectors is underpinned with a worker’s ability to secure quality child care that meets their needs. A comprehensive Strategic Plan for the Child Care system in BC is critical to staying competitive in today’s global economy.”

—–

BC Chamber of Commerce calls for child care plan, BCGEU Alert

The BCGEU and our partners in the “Child Care – Let’s Make It Happen!: campaign share a vision of a truly universal, affordable child care system and take issue with some of the Chamber’s recommendations, such as the proposal to use public funds for private capital funding for child care spaces.

However, as a whole this resolution signals a significant and positive shift in consciousness on the part of business.

—–

Related articles:

B.C. chamber calls on government to boost child-care funding
Trail Daily Times
12 Jun 2007
By: Raymond Masleck

Child-care providers are excited that their campaign for more government support has been endorsed by a key business organization.

“This has been years in coming,” said Sue McIntosh, head of the Trail Childcare Resource and Referral Centre. “This is a huge step that the business community is finally recognizing that work and child care go hand in hand.”

A resolution from the Trail and District Chamber of Commerce calling for an immediate increase in funding and a plan to provide more support for families in need of child-care gained unanimous support at the recent annual meeting of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce.

“We have taken what is traditionally a social issue and have had the chamber step forward and recognize it as a business issue,” said Sue Bock, a director on the provincial chamber’s board.

The key issue for business is the growing labour and skill shortages that have spread from the larger centres to small town B.C., Trail chamber manager Pam Lewin indicated. Local businesses are looking for employees and there are qualified people interested in taking the jobs, but they can’t because of lack of child care, she explained.

“There has been a huge change in the economy that is reflected in the huge drop in unemployment figures, across all sectors,” Lewin said. “It has had a greater impact in rural areas because we don’t have the same pool of workers.”

“It is a deterrent for young families coming to this region,” added Bock “and to kids wanting to move back here.”

The Sunshine Children’s Centre in Trail has a waiting list of 29 children for the eight spaces in its infant program and 39 on the list for its 18 spaces for three- to five-year-olds. Some of the slack is being picked up by private day cares, but there aren’t enough of those either.

“We had six referrals today with an average age of 2 1/2 and we couldn’t find one space,” said McIntosh.

With child-care wages running at $13-$14 an hour locally, with no benefits, the centres aren’t able to attract workers, and there is no capital or operating funding available to expand spaces. Sunshine received a $150,000 matching grant from the province when it built its facility, a source of funds that is no longer available.

“Our big concern is that we can’t increase the number of spaces because of the capital cuts,” said Sunshine manager Lynn Proulx. “Our economy is growing but we can’t provide the services to keep up with it.” …

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B.C. chamber …. at provincial meeting
Victoria Times Colonist
May 29, 2007
By: Carla Wilson
EXCERPT

… A total of 240 delegates from chambers around the province attended the meeting. …..Another Greater Victoria Chamber resolution to help tackle labour market shortages by creating more child care spaces for children up to three years old also won support.

If family child care centres were permitted to add one more child under three, and possibly offset that by reducing the number of older children, that could potentially open up 1,350 new spaces, the chamber said.

It can be difficult to find child care for younger children, Carter said….

The tradition began in the early 1980’s when the BC Daycare Action Coalition, now called the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC, asked the City of Vancouver to proclaim Daycare Week.

Our first slogan was – “Good daycare is good for kids” – as relevant today as it was then.

Over time, May became Child Care Month in BC. Over the years, some Mayors passed proclamations, some BC governments produced posters, advocates continued with public education about the public policy agenda and the child care community and families celebrated this special month with parties, parades and picnics and recognition of the tireless and remarkable efforts of the caregivers across BC who are there for children, families and communities… day in and day out.

– Adapted from a CCCABC Newsletter

Looking back down memory lane:

In 2003: Susan Harney, CCCABC chair, wrote, “May was a time to honour the good work of child care workers throughout our province, to celebrate the work we do and to re energize ourselves to continue the “fight” to move child care forward, to build an affordable, quality, accessible service for families. In good faith we’ve struggled together, always believing that there was hope.”

But that year was different!

In 2002: CCCABC marched for child care

Today, 2007:

Linda Reid, Minister of State for Child Care thanked child care providers in B.C. through a letter to the editor in Cariboo Press, Kelowna Capital News [06 May 2007]

EXCERPT

To the editor:

May is national Child Care Month. As a mom, I want to take this opportunity to honour child care providers for their hard work and dedication to children. It takes a special person to work in this field and these individuals deserve our recognition. As we celebrate this month, it is also important to look at our successes.

We have heard quite clearly the priority for B.C. families is to address the need for more child care spaces…

As you probably are aware, as of April 1, 2007 the federal government cancelled the 2005 Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, which represents a loss to B.C. of $455 million over the next three years…

The B.C. government is committed to providing sustainable child care in order that families can choose from a range of affordable, safe, quality child care options.

Child care providers spend their days enriching our children’s lives, while at the same time providing parents with job stability and peace of mind.

For that, we thank all of the wonderfully gifted child care providers in British Columbia.

—–

Other Child Care Month materials:

Why are they smiling?
May is Child Care month, 2007 poster

Commentary by First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition

To listen to the rhetoric from Victoria, you’d think that British Columbia had one of the world’s great child care systems.

Minister of State Linda Reid calls child care “one of the most vital resources for B.C.’s parents.” She speaks proudly about the steps already taken to provide “the strongest start possible for B.C.’s children.” And she talks about achieving the goal of “making B.C. the best place to raise a family.”

With all those superlatives, a person might believe that if we have not yet attained heaven on earth, we certainly can’t be far away.

Yet the same government “service plan” that contains Reid’s flowery language also reveals some alarming realities – if you know where to look.

The province estimates 24,480 families will get full or partial child care subsidies during the current fiscal year. That figure may sound impressive, were it not for the fact that there are an estimated 358,000 BC mothers in the paid labour force with children 12 or younger.

In other words, the subsidy system covers perhaps seven percent of BC mothers who might well be in need of child care for their children.

The service plan also predicts no increase in the number of families getting subsidies next year or even the year after that.

Despite the rhetoric about the importance of child care, government funding for child care and related programs is down from $535.3 million during the last fiscal year to $429.9 million this year. That’s a loss of $105.5 million, or nearly 20 percent, for child care, special needs and early childhood development. The BC Liberals blame Canada’s new Conservative government for the drop in funding, but the reality is BC could easily have made up the difference out of last year’s surplus of $3.15 billion (yes, billion).

Then there’s the issue of capital funding to create more child care spaces in BC. The latest service plan says “major capital funding” is on hold pending word from Ottawa about the new Conservative government’s not-so-new promise to create 125,000 new child care spaces across the country sometime in the years ahead. Provincial dithering hardly seems to echo their description of child care as a vital resource.

The federal government says money for the 125,000 new spaces will be given directly to the provinces to spend as they see fit. This would be an opportunity for BC to show some leadership and foresight, but it’s hard to be hopeful based on the record to date.

Once you get beyond official government publications, the gap between rhetoric and reality is even more striking.

There is little evidence that Premier Gordon Campbell, Finance Minister Carole Taylor or any of the other heavy hitters in the provincial cabinet have much use for child care. The fact that child care is left to the responsibility of a minister of state – that is, a junior cabinet minister – speaks volumes about the province’s commitment.

There’s also the issue of placing responsibility for child care within the ministry of children and family development, the ministry that is responsible for many thousands of British Columbians with a wide range of special needs. The ministry seems to be in a perpetual state of turmoil and reorganization, and it’s no surprise that child care has trouble holding its own amid all the other demands on resources.

Meanwhile, the ministry of education is gobbling up a slice or two of the early childhood development or early childhood education pies for programs such as StrongStart BC. Just where these other programs are headed or how they may impact child care programs is still not clear, because the province is loathe to share its plans with ordinary British Columbians.

Perhaps the word “plan” is too strong, at least when it comes to child care. Having a plan means having a goal, having detailed ways of meeting that goal, and having a timetable for reaching interim targets along the way. None of this is true in BC.

What we have are small patchwork programs that help some, but not most families with children. We have no firm commitment from the powers that be that child care programming really matters. And the province has essentially put child care policy on hold in the vain hope that substantial sums of new money might eventually be forthcoming from the federal government.

Without doing harm to the English language, it’s impossible to reconcile any of these realities with the public pronouncements from the BC Liberals about how much they care and what a great job they are doing.

CBC News

One of the country’s foremost experts in early childhood development says Canada ranks last among developed nations when it comes to investment in early childhood education.

While the number of early childhood programs in Canada has increased over the past decade, the programs remain disorganized and scattered across various communities, Dr. Fraser Mustard said Monday.

“What we have early in terms of early childhood development, which is in this report, is chaos,” he said. “And the question is how do you get order out of chaos?”

The 185-page report co-authored by Mustard ranks Canada last among 30 countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The OECD includes the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and Mexico.

The report found Canada spends just one-quarter of one per cent of its GDP on early childhood programs, while other OECD countries spend up to two percent.

Mustard said the country needs to create community hubs with child care centres, highly trained staff and extensive support programs for parents all under one roof.

Opposition targets Harper

Opposition leaders in Ottawa cited the report’s findings Monday in question period in their attack on the Conservative government’s latest budget, which they claim failed to address the needs of Canadian children and families. Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said the report showed Ottawa must resurrect the national early learning and child care program secured with the provinces before the last election – a plan the Tories shelved upon gaining office.

“The former Liberal government had a plan,” he said. “Why on earth did the Conservative government cut this plan?”

The Conservatives have said they are supporting parents directly through their $100-a-month universal child care benefit and transferring funds to the provinces to bolster their own child care programs.

‘Set the trajectory’

The early years have been shown to “set the trajectory” for how well a child does in school, as well as shape future social adjustment and health, Dr. Stuart Shanker told CBC News Online Monday.

But Shanker also said boosting funds won’t help unless a concrete plan is developed to reorganize the patchwork of programs across the country. “It’s not a case of ‘let’s throw a whole whack of money and the problem will go away,'” he said. “What we’re proposing is a preventative health model.” Shanker said the cost of behavioural and mental health issues triggered by problems in early childhood would drop if the right programs were in place. The report is published by the Council for Early Child Development, a not-for-profit group Mustard founded in 2004.

For more information:
Early Years Study 2: Putting Science into Action

PART A: EXCERPT from “Supporting the Creation of New Child Care Spaces”

….Budget 2007 proposes to provide a 25-per-cent investment tax credit to businesses that create new child care spaces in the workplace to a maximum of $10,000 per space created. It also proposes to provide annual additional funding of $250 million to provinces and territories to support the creation of child care spaces ….

Budget 2007 announces the extension of existing funding of $850 million, provided within the CST in support of federal-provincial-territorial arrangements established in 2000 and 2003 for early childhood development and early learning and child care. These federal funding arrangements will be extended to 2013–14.

PART B: EXCERPT from “Federal Support for Early Learning and Child Care”

The Government of Canada will provide nearly $5.6 billion in 2007–08 in support of early learning and child care through transfers, direct spending and tax measures:

$1.1 billion in cash transfers to provinces and territories.

$2.4 billion annually through monthly payments to parents for every child under the age of 6 through the Universal Child Care Benefit.

$695 million in recognition of child care expenses through the child care expense deduction….

PART C: EXCERPT from “Investment Tax Credit for Child Care Spaces”

Budget 2007 proposes to introduce a tax credit to encourage businesses to create licensed child care spaces for the children of their employees and, potentially, for children in the surrounding community. The tax credit, which will be delivered as part of the existing investment tax credit provisions, will be available to eligible businesses that create one or more new child care spaces in a new or existing licensed child care facility….

—–

Responses to the federal budget

BCGEU: Federal budget ignores child care needs of working families
Mar 19 ’07

The federal Conservative budget dealt another body blow to universal child care in Canada, by returning only a tiny portion of funding they had previously cut, the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union said today.

“The Stephen Harper government has shown a complete lack of commitment to universal child care with this budget,” said BCGEU president George Heyman. “After cutting funding for the federal child care program last year, they restored about one fifth of the funding in this budget.

“It’s an admission of failure, without any real commitment to meet the needs of working families. While the vast majority of Canadians support an affordable, universal child care program, this government has turned it’s back on working parents across this country.”

On March 15, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives published the results of an extensive poll by Environics Research, which showed that 80 per cent of Canadians, and 81 per cent of British Columbians believe that creating more affordable child care spaces for working families is an effective way to reduce the growing gap between the rich and poor in Canada.

“It’s time this government stopped playing politics and actually started to address the real needs of families,” said Heyman. “The time for universal child care is now.”

—–

BC Federation of Labour: Working families hear lots of talk in federal budget but see no real action

Vancouver—Working families heard lots of talk that they were the centrepiece of today’s federal budget but the details show it’s only talk, with little action says B.C. Federation of Labour Secretary-Treasurer, Angela Schira.

“No matter how much spin the Conservatives try they’re simply out of touch with the needs of working families,” Schira said.

“It’s disappointing that both our federal and provincial governments simply don’t understand that you can’t solve the labour shortage if you don’t solve the childcare shortage,” added Schira.

“Childcare tax breaks for corporations should have been invested in building real spaces,” Schira said. “Corporations don’t have a great track record when it comes to childcare.” Schira added that the $250 million in childcare funding – announced last year only works out to $33 million for BC. Before the Conservatives axed the childcare plan BC was set to receive over $150 million this year. “Those dollars should have been provided to licensed, mostly non-profit, providers to increase spaces now.”….

——

Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada
EXCERPT

OTTAWA, ONTARIO– March 19, 2007 – It’s time for the Harper government to publicly face the truth – they’re hurting Canada’s families by failing to deliver on early learning and child care. Although they said child care was one of their top priorities in the last election, today’s budget confirms federal child care funding cuts of almost a billion dollars (80%). The announcement of a measly $250 million transfer to provinces and territories with no accountability framework shows that they do not have a plan for delivering the national child care program that Canadians want.

—–

CUPE: Stunning absence of leadership in federal budget
http://www.cnw.ca/fr/releases/archive/March2007/19/c4232.html

OTTAWA, March 19 /CNW Telbec/ – “Stephen Harper has tabled an election-ready budget, but the new packaging of the Conservatives should not fool Canadians,” says Paul Moist, national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

“Underneath these new promises is their true agenda: to weaken national social programs and diminish the role of public services in Canada. The government is abandoning its leadership role by having no conditions or federal accountability requirements linked to the additional transfers. This budget takes it one step further and encourages greater privatization of public services,” said Moist…

Federal transfers for early learning and child care were cut by $1 billion when the government cancelled the national child care program. “There is no guarantee that the new funding will create child care spaces,” Moist said…

—–

CAW: Harper budget may prevent an election, but doesn’t do the job for working Canadians
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2007/19/c4342.html

TORONTO, March 19 /CNW/ – “The Stephen Harper budget appears to be a budget structured to avoid an election,” said CAW president Buzz Hargrove. “The budget recognizes problems but fails to address them. There is a nod here and a wink there, but no real solutions.”..

“The budget admits that what the Harper government has done with the child care issue has been inadequate. This time they tried to fix the problem with a tax credit of a few hundred dollars for children under 18. What working families really need is the national child care program the Harper government scrapped when they came to power.”

—–

CODE BLUE – Our reaction

– The Conservative budget is cutting $1 billion that were previously committed to make early learning and child care accessible to families.

– The Conservative government is sticking to its failed child care plan by giving tax credits to businesses for the creation of workplace–and likely for profit–child care spaces even though all the evidence tells them it won’t work. In fact, the Conservatives are probably including this tax break knowing there will be no take-up. This way they can say they stuck with their original plan without having to spend a penny.

– The Conservative government is planning to spend $1.5 billion on a new flat child tax benefit. The cost of the government’s so-called universal child care allowance is estimated to be $2.46 billion in 2007-2008. This means a total of just under $4 billion in 2007-2008 alone will be paid out in payments to individuals. If this money was directed to child care services, it would be almost enough to operate a universal child care system for all 3 to 5 year-olds with federal funds alone.

– The Conservative budget is all about transferring responsibility for services to individuals (in the form of individual tax credits) and to provinces/territories (in the form of unrestricted, unaccountable transfer payments) and this will destroy the future of early learning and child care.

What we got

– Cancellation of $1.2 billion in transfers to provinces/territories that was to take effect on April 1,2007, as well as the cancellation of $1.2 billion in each of the next two years.

– a 25 per cent investment tax credit to businesses that create child care spaces in the workplace to a maximum of $10,000 per space created.

– $250 million in 2007-2008 to provinces/territories for the creation of spaces.

– Starting in 2008-2009, the $250 million transfer will be rolled into the Canada Social Transfer to the provinces/territories on a per capita basis. Reporting and accountability requirements are to be worked out with the provinces/territories.

– Starting in 2009-2010, the transfer through the CST will be increased by 3 per cent each year.

– In their costing of their support for child care, the Conservatives are rolling in the $850 million that is already in place under the Canada Social Transfer as agreed to through the Early Childhood Development Agreement in 2000 and the Multilateral Framework agreement in 2003. Let’s not forget that hardly any of the ECDA funds went for child care, and none of this money is new.

– The budget also allocates $1.5 billion to a new child tax benefit. The Conservatives describe this as federal support for early learning and child care but, like the so-called universal child care allowance, it has nothing to do with child care.

Watch out

– The budget specifies that the $250 million transfer to the provinces/territories in 2007-2008 is for the creation of spaces not their expansion. It is not clear that there will be any accountability or spending requirements.

– Starting in 2008-2009, any strings attached to the $250 million will have to be discussed with the provinces/territories.

– The transfer will not be increased until 2009-2010 after which it will increase by 3 per cent each year, the established Canada Social Transfer escalator.

– The previously negotiated transfers under the Multilateral Framework agreement stay in place under the Canada Social Transfer but are not being increased until 2009-2010 when all the transfers under the CST will go up by 3%.

—–

CCPA: Tax cut budget out of step with Canadians’ priorities
19 Mar 2007

OTTAWA, March 19 /CNW Telbec/ – Today’s federal budget may be a short- term attempt to buy votes but it fails to address the long-term priorities of most Canadians, says the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Two recent national polls one by Environics Research, the other by Strategic Counsel show overwhelming public support for government investment in social programs that benefit all Canadians and that tackle persistent poverty as well as income inequality “the other ‘inconvenient truth’ of our time.

“This is a budget that attempts to buy off low- and middle-income families with tax cuts and provinces with transfers,” says Ellen Russell, senior economist for the Centre. “The Harper government has opted for a second round of targeted tax cuts instead of building through social programs that Canadians say they really want.”

“There are many things tax cuts just can’t do. Tax cuts cannot create child care spaces, build affordable housing, or lower the cost of post-secondary education. Any government serious about helping working families would invest in these services.”

The Centre is also critical of the budget promise to transfer almost $5 billion to the provinces over two years with no strings attached.

“Without strings attached, the provinces are free to spend the money on lawn mowers instead of guaranteeing they will tackle poverty and inequality head-on, ” says Bruce Campbell, executive director of the Centre.

“The Harper budget is about nation dismantling, not nation building. A transfer without any conditions or standards is an abdication of leadership.

Nation building is far more than being a tax collector for the provinces,” concludes Campbell.

Restore Child Care! Events and protests planned across BC

BCGEU members are working with parents and community partners across the province to bring public attention to the impact of the most recent child care cuts.

Only a political decision can reverse the cuts, restore funding and build a stronger child care system.

A variety of events are being planned including public town hall meetings, rallies, letter writing campaigns, and MLA visits.

Let’s Make It Happen, BCGEU

Sample letter for parents [PDF]
Sample letter for employers [PDF]

CAMPBELL RIVER:

Campbell River Child Care Planning Committee/CRECEBC Town Hall Meeting – Feb. 6, 2007

Newspaper ad

CRANBROOK:

Town Hall Meeting Feb. 6, 2007

Flyer

DUNCAN:

February 6, 2007 — A black day for childcare: Honour our children, and stand united. Rally 1:30 pm, Duncan city hall.

Stop cuts to childcare: wear black

ECEBC:

ECEBC supports the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC, in their current campaign to have Minister of State for Child Care, Linda Reid resign and Minister of Finance, Carole Taylor restore the cuts!

Open letter to Minister Reid [PDF]

ECEBC Day of Protest on February 13th – Meet on the steps of the legislature in Victoria, 12:30 on February 13th.

Buses will take people from Vancouver to the legislature in Victoria — leave 41st and Oak at 7:30 AM to make the 9 AM ferry. Email the office ecebc@direct.ca or phone 1-800-797-5602, or 604-709-6063 by Thursday afternoon to reserve a seat on the bus.

Full details

KAMLOOPS:

Protect our children and protest the cuts.

Contact local child care advocates for details about their plans for February. Feb 6th, 2007 marks one year since the federal Conservatives began governing.

MAPLE RIDGE:

On Feb 3 child care providers are rallying at Maple Ridge-Mission Liberal MLA Randy Hawes’ office at 1 p.m. They are putting together a paper chain with each link representing each child, parent, caregiver (and their family members) that will be affected by these cutbacks.

Feb. 6 from 6:30 to 8 a.m., at Lougheed Highway and 200 Street, providers will host a walk to bring attention to recent child care funding cutbacks.

Feb 6 th, MLA Michael Sather is holding a town hall meeting in partnership with program operators to discuss the future of childcare in the wake of B.C. Liberal government cuts. St. Andrew’s United Church, 22165 Dewdney Trunk Rd., Maple Ridge, from 7 to 9 p.m.

NELSON:

SPAN Nelson (Social Planning Action Network) & Dads for Child Care plan a Child Care Forum – Thursday Feb. 1, 7:00 pm

Dads for Child Care and SPAN Nelson Child Care Forum – The Social Planning Action Network of Nelson (SPAN Nelson) and Nelson Dads for Child Care will host a community forum on the issues – Thursday February 1st in the Hume Hotel’s ‘Hume Room’ at 7:00pm. Please attend – our kids are counting on you!

Flyer [PDF]

Feb 13, 2007 Day-care day of protest planned
[CBC News]

Feb. 13 — the day of the provincial throne speech — has been designated as a day of protest.

Deb Jarvis, the executive director of the Kootenay Kids Society, said some day-care centres will be closed for the day, while others will be the scene of public rallies.

RICHMOND:

Richmond Parents and Child Care Providers express shock and horror about the Provincial Government’s funding cuts to child care.

Over 700 protest letters from local parents have been collected and will be sent to Minister Reid. It is hard for local parents and providers to understand why, in a booming economy, this government chose not to support families with services and funding.

SCHOOL AGE CHILD CARE ASSOCIATION OF BC (SACCA):

SACCA supports the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC in their current campaign to have Minister of State for Child Care, Linda Reid resign and Minister of Finance, Carole Taylor restore the cuts.

SUNSHINE COAST COMMUNITY SERVICES SOCIETY:

“Gordon Campbell’s Liberal government slashes funding for our CCR and R program – Lobby the government through a letter writing campaign”

VICTORIA:

Feb. 6, 2007 RESTORE CHILD CARE! TOWN HALL MEETING – 7pm, BCGEU Area Office, 2994 Douglas St., Victoria

WESTCOAST CHILD CARE RESOURCE CENTRE:

MCFD has announced its plan for child care for the 2007-08 fiscal year. “…Many words have been used to describe this decision but it all comes down to one thing – it is BAD! Bad for families, bad for care providers, bad for organizations, and ultimately and most importantly, bad for the children who will be once again caught in the crossfire – or perhaps misfire – of government policy based on single-minded ideology!…”

Honourable Linda Reid
Minister of State for Childcare
Room 29
Parliament Buildings
Victoria, BC V8V 1X4

Dear Minister Reid,

I am appalled by the recent announcement of cuts made by you as Minister to the already under resourced child care sector. At a time when the Province has a budget surplus, is faced with labour shortages – and when the Premier’s own Progress Board has highlighted the need for government to invest in child care – your ministry attacks it.

This is yet another example of the BC Liberal government failing BC families. When the federal government eliminated the Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) agreement, Premier Campbell was silent. Now, instead of providing leadership and helping families, your government has decided to move backward to pre-ELCC funding levels and pass on the cuts to parents.

As a result of your government’s decision to cut childcare funding, centres are threatened with closure, while others are forced to raise their fees. And instead of providing leadership, you are on record as Minister of State for Childcare suggesting that parents should save money to make up for these funding cuts.

This new increase in costs will leave many parents in a position of having to take their children out of quality childcare and resorting to makeshift arrangements, including creating latch-key kids. Or some parents will inevitably leave the workforce because they will spend more on their child care than they receive as income.

The claim that the Province cannot afford to make up the shortfall left by the lack of federal funding is baseless and misleading. Not only does the Province have a budget surplus, but money invested in childcare is money invested in the economy. Quality, accessible and affordable childcare makes it possible for parents to participate in the workforce, and this is especially important at times of high labour shortages such as BC is now experiencing.

And at the same time as parents are forced to pay higher fees, your government is also cutting funding to Child Care Referral and Resource centres to such an extent that most believe they will have to close. These are the centres which parents rely on to find childcare and get help with subsidies and that also support all forms of childcare programs; provide training for childcare workers, organize resource libraries, and perform the important role of monitoring childcare provisions.

In fact, your government has relied heavily on these centres to extend and improve unregulated childcare in BC. It was only little more than a year ago that your ministry was encouraging these CCRRs to expand, to move into storefront locations, and increase their outreach.

With this encouragement from your government, many centres did expand – with a financial cost, but with great success; the CCRR’s annual report for last year shows a 56 percent increase in consultations with parents, thousands of parents received information and training, and there was a substantial increase in the use of the resources these centres provide. They further provide training and monitoring for thousands of childcare workers and centres, and resources to ensure that those centres can run well.

Yet after expanding these centres, your ministry is now cutting their funding, and telling them that it will buy out leases on offices, vehicles, cover severance pay, and reclaim capital equipment. In effect, the ministry responsible for childcare is paying for a crucial part of childcare work to stop.

Investing in child care is not a luxury. If we want to have the healthiest, most literate and educated province we need to make sure that BC’s children get a good start and as all the research shows, quality, affordable and accessible childcare is a key component in ensuring that strong start. If we want to have a healthy economy, we need to make sure quality childcare is in place.

Unfortunately Minister, it seems that all that you have been doing for the last year is undermining what should be one of our province’s economic and social foundations. It is no doubt because of your government’s appalling record on childcare, and your own lack of leadership as Minister that the childcare community is now calling for your resignation.

Sincerely,
Claire Trevena, MLA, North Island, New Democrat Childcare Critic

RECOMMENDATIONS – EXCERPT

• Develop a province-wide strategy on affordable, accessible, and quality child care options for British Columbians, and consider providing additional funds for child care.

The Committee recommends that the government:

• Immediately allocate necessary resources to eliminate the waitlists for assessments of children and youth with special needs. Furthermore, the government should provide funding for a comprehensive pre-screening program for all children.

EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS

As in previous years, the broad theme of education ranked highly amongst the public’s priorities. This year, the budget consultation questionnaire grouped kindergarten-to-grade twelve education in with post-secondary education offered by B.C.’s universities and colleges.

Unlike last year, in which the Committee received hundreds of submissions on how to improve elementary and secondary school education, the majority of presentations this year focussed on early assessment funding, child care, English-as-a-second-language funding, and post-secondary education.

Early Assessment Funding

With respect to British Columbia’s younger students, we heard of a pressing need for the government to provide greater resources in the area of early assessment for children with special needs.

Full report

Linda Reid, Minister of State for Child Care announced significant funding cuts as the BC government will not sustain the dollars provided through the federal provincial agreements:

– as of July 1, 2007 Child Care Operating Funding (CCOF) rates will be returned to the amounts the province spent prior to the federal provincial child care agreements.

– CCOF will be capped.

– CCR and R funding and provincial funds will be significantly reduced in stages.

—–

Response to the announcement:

Child care advocates decry cuts
The provincial government has capped the number of subsidized spaces
Vancouver Sun
January 6, 2007
By: Jeff Lee

EXCERPT

B.C.’s child care community was thrown into turmoil Friday after the provincial government cut funding for some services and capped the number of daycare spaces it will subsidize.

Saying it could not afford to maintain some of its child care commitments in the wake of the federal government’s decision to cancel a joint funding program that was started in October 2005, the province will begin a phased reduction of services starting next April.

Linda Reid, the minister of state for child care, said the province will continue to provide enhanced daycare subsidies to about 25,000 low-income families who use some of the 80,000 funded licensed spaces in the province. She also said the cuts amount to an average of $40 per month per child, which, she added, can easily be made up by the $100 a month parents now get from the federal government’s six-month-old Universal Child Care Benefits program.

That benefits program, announced by the Conservative government last year, diverted money Ottawa gave the provinces under a five-year agreement introduced by Paul Martin’s Liberals to help subsidize daycare providers.

The decision to cancel the last three years of the contract sucked $455 million away from the province, Reid said, meaning it had to reduce some programs.

“It is certainly challenging times for us,” she said.

But she believes families will put their new federal child care benefit into their day-care responsibilities.

“In that families in British Columbia are now receiving $100 a month from the federal government, we have said we would roll back our rates to the pre-October 2005 levels, which is roughly $40 a month because we believe those dollars are available through the federal government.”

The cuts were immediately decried by the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C., which said they will severely damage the fragile licensed daycare community.

“This is a huge impact on us. It will destabilize a lot of providers, who are already operating at break-even or at a loss,” said Crystal Janes, a member of the coalition’s board of directors. “Quality of care is going to be a big challenge now.”

Under the plan announced Friday in a letter to care providers, the province will:

– Reduce the subsidy to child care providers as of July 1 to levels before the federal-provincial agreement.

– Cap the number of subsidized daycare spaces, and only take new applications when other providers retire or close spaces.

– Cut funding for child care resource and referral programs as of April 1 back to pre-agreement days.

In a follow-up briefing to child care advocates, government officials said the $14-million resource and referral program, which helps train providers and assists parents in making applications for subsidies, will be reduced to $9 million in April, and to $3 million in October.

Janes said the resource and referral centres around the province provide critical services to parents and providers, and slashing the funding will undermine the ability to get quality providers in the long term.

Janes said most providers will have no alternative but to raise the rates they charge parents, even if they are subsidized.

And she said the $100-a-month benefit families now get from Ottawa for each child won’t likely cover the cost for many of the services.

In many cases, the subsidies are actually higher depending on the age of the child. Moreover, she said the province’s decision cripples plans to expand daycare services, something she said is integral to helping families earn living wages….

House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance pre-budget report for 2006

Media release

EXCERPT FROM THE COMMITTEE’S REPORT

“Life long learning

A. WHAT WE HEARD

1. Early Learning and Child Care

Since decisions about early learning and child care for Canadian children have important implications for the first stages of human capital development and parents’ labour market participation, such witnesses as the Canadian Child Care Federation and the Child Care Coalition of Manitoba encouraged the federal government — in collaboration with the provincial/territorial governments — to develop a national family or social policy framework with national child care as a cornerstone.

Regarding child benefits, witnesses suggested that:

• the Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB) be expanded to include children between the ages of 6 and 12 years;
• benefits paid through the taxable UCCB be redirected to the Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB) to ensure that families in which both partners work outside the home are not penalized;
• the maximum value of the CCTB be increased, with many groups advocating $4,900 or $5,000 per child, indexed for inflation; and
• the federal government work with the provinces/territories to end the clawback of the federally funded National Child Benefit Supplement (NCBS) from low-income families with children.

Such witnesses as the Child Care Coalition of Manitoba, the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC, First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition, the Manitoba Government and General Employees Union, Make Poverty History, the Canadian Co-operative Association, Communities for Children, and Dalhousie University, School of Social Work supported the development of a pan-Canadian, publicly funded early learning and child care (ELCC) system that respects the QUAD principles of quality, universality, accessibility and development.

Some witnesses expressed their preference for regulated and/or not-for-profit child care or, in the case of the Canadian Co-operative Association, for the development of child care co-operatives. It was suggested that federal investments be sufficient and appropriately allocated to ensure that an ELCC system meets the needs of all regions of Canada (including urban, rural and remote communities), of all children (including children aged 6 to 12 years, disabled children and Aboriginal children who live on- and off-reserve), and of all parents (regardless of the type of child care their situation requires).

While the requested level of federal investment in an ELCC system varied among witnesses, many groups advocated sustained and dedicated multi-year funding to the provinces/territories. Some witnesses, including SpeciaLink, specifically advocated the reinstatement of the federal-provincial/territorial Moving Forward on Child Care Agreements. The Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC, First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition and the BC Child Care Advocacy Forum stated their preference for shifting child care costs from users to governments over time, with some groups advocating a short-term goal of reducing total user fee contributions to a maximum of 20% of the total cost of child care.

Witnesses, including the Manitoba Child Care Association, told the Committee about the need to ensure, through monitoring and reporting requirements, that the provinces/territories are held accountable for their expenditure of federal ELCC funds. Other witnesses argued for guarantees that federal funds be used to supplement — rather than replace — provincial/territorial spending. To this end, several groups supported the enactment of federal child care legislation. The Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada, the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care and the New Brunswick Child Care Coalition suggested that any legislation adopted respect the rights of Quebec and First Nations to establish their own child care systems.

The need for additional affordable and high-quality child care spaces was noted by a number of groups, including the National Children’s Alliance and the National Council of Welfare, TLC Centre Inc. and the Portage Day Care Center. Witnesses shared their suggestions about how the $250 million identified in the 2006 federal budget should be used to create child care spaces. The Fraser Valley KAIROS Group supported tax incentives to encourage business to create child care spaces, while other witnesses — including the Ontario Municipal Social Services Association and the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care — preferred that the provinces/territories receive funding in the form of dedicated transfers for child care. The Committee was reminded by the Human Early Learning Partnership, among other witnesses, about the importance of investing in the ongoing operation of child care spaces once the initial capital investment has been made.

Not all witnesses supported a national ELCC strategy, however. REAL Women of Canada shared with the Committee the results of a 2005 survey by the Vanier Institute of the Family, which found that 90% of Canadians believed that, in two-parent families, one parent should ideally stay at home and raise the children. Furthermore, the survey revealed that parental care ranked first and child care centres ranked fifth when parents were asked whom they would prefer to care for their preschoolers.

Some witnesses, such as Mothers on the Rampage, the Kids First Parent Association of Canada, the Care of the Child Coalition and REAL Women of Canada, believed that federal child care-related funds should be provided directly to individuals and families, who could then direct them to the caregiver of their choice. Proponents of this approach suggested that it would provide more equitable treatment of women who choose to stay in the home and those who work in the paid labour force. To this end, REAL Women of Canada and the Kids First Parent Association of Canada advocated the creation of a refundable tax credit for all children in order that families would be compensated for expenses incurred, regardless of the child care method they choose.

There was also no consensus on the appropriate role, if any, for the federal government with respect to child care associations. The Manitoba Child Care Association requested that the federal government sufficiently fund national and provincial/territorial child care associations, which provide research and resources to regulated ELCC programs. Other witnesses advocated the elimination of federal funding for child care lobbyists and advocates.

The Committee also heard suggestions related to the child care workforce. The Canadian Child Care Federation recommended the development of a national human resources strategy for the child care sector to address such issues as wages and benefits as well as national standards for training to facilitate the inter-provincial/territorial movement of workers. To enhance the quality and stability of the child care workforce, incentives for ongoing professional development as well as prior learning assessment and recognition to allow experienced child care providers to gain needed educational requirements were also advocated. The Face of Poverty Consultation was among the witnesses that encouraged increased salaries and/or benefits for professionally trained early childhood educators and caregivers.

RECOMMENDATION 6

The federal government amend the Income Tax Act to increase the value of the Canada Child Tax Benefit. Following this increase, the value of the tax benefit should be increased annually to reflect changes in the cost of living as measured by the Consumer Price Index.

Moreover, the government — in conjunction with the provincial/territorial governments — should fund a national, accessible, affordable, high-quality, publicly regulated child care system. This system should respect any provincial/territorial child care programs already in effect, recognizing the leadership of the province of Quebec.”

Full report

November 2006

Federal Bill C–303 passes second reading of the Private Members’ bill in the House of Commons

An Act to establish criteria and conditions in respect of funding for early learning and child care programs in order to ensure the quality, accessibility, universality and accountability of those programs, and to appoint a council to advise the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development on matters relating to early learning and child care.

Second reading: Nov 21, 2006
Vote – 144 “yeas” and 116 “nays”.

Vote results [PDF]

More information is available on the Parliament site

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Article:

Early Learning & Child Care Act to proceed to Committee after passing in Parliament
November 22, 2006

OTTAWA – With the successful vote on Canada’s Early Learning and Child Care Act (C-303) this evening in the House of Commons, progress towards national child care took a major step forward.

The Child Care Act, introduced in June by NDP MPs Denise Savoie (Victoria) and Olivia Chow (Trinity-Spadina) will now move on to examination and debate at committee.

“We now have the chance to make history in this Parliament and shape legislation that will enshrine affordable, accessible, and universal early learning, and child care as cornerstones of social policy for Canadian families,” said Savoie. “Canada’s children and working families deserve the Early Learning and Child Care Act.”

“With this vote the majority of average Canadians are saying loud and clear to the minority Conservative Government that national early learning and child care are essential to today’s families,” continued NDP Child Care critic Olivia Chow.

“For too long Canada has been failing Canadian kids and their parents. We have fallen to the bottom of the OECD list. This should be a wake-up call to the Prime Minister. Most Canadians have already seen through his so-called child care program which only provides $100 taxable-dollars a month.”

Working families in Canada need child care and the NDP is absolutely committed to continuing pursue this important issue, working with the other parties to beat the odds and enact the legislation as law in the months ahead.

Media Release from Code Blue for Child Care [PDF]

The Court Challenges Program has been cancelled by the Conservative minority government. This is a blow to all those in Canada who believe in fairness, equality and language rights for French and English minorities. Help reverse this decision.

A Steering Committee representative of both language rights and equality rights communities has prepared materials.

History of Court Challenges Program [PDF]

What can YOU do?

1. YOU can write your own letter as an individual or organization to the Prime Minister [E mail address: Harper.S@parl.gc.ca] and forward a copy to the Steering committee for their records april@ccdonline.ca

2. YOU can write your own Member of Parliament and send them a copy of the letter to the Prime Minister.

MP’s E mail addresses: use your postal code to find your MP.

—–

LETTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER:

Date …
The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
Office of the Prime Minister
House of Commons [*postage free]
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

Dear Prime Minister,

We write today to ask you to reinstate the Court Challenges Program. Only by reinstating the Program can you demonstrate that your government intends to respect the human rights of Canada’s people.

The Canadian Constitution establishes important constitutional rights, including the rights of official language minority groups to education and government services in their primary language and the rights of everyone to equality before and under the law and to equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination. However, these rights are empty unless the individuals and groups they are designed to protect can exercise and enforce them.

Since the Charter was adopted 25 years ago, successive federal governments have recognized that they have a responsibility to ensure that disadvantaged minorities have funding to take Charter cases forward. The Court Challenges Program, by providing modest contributions to the cost of important test cases dealing with language and equality rights, has made these constitutional rights accessible to Canadians. Without the Court Challenges Program, Canada’s constitutional rights are real only for the wealthy. This is unfair. And it does not comply with the rule of law, which is a fundamental principle of our Constitution.

The Honourable John Baird has been quoted in the press as saying that it does not make sense “for the government to subsidize lawyers to challenge the government’s own laws in court.” This statement implies that: 1) lawyers are the prime beneficiaries of the Program and 2) the government should not support challenges to its own laws. On both counts, deeper analysis is needed.

First, the beneficiaries of the CCP are individuals and groups who believe that laws and policies discriminate against them or deny them their language rights. They cannot go forward without lawyers to represent them, since constitutional challenges are legally complex. Secondly, when a country like Canada enacts constitutional rights it takes for granted that residents, when they believe the government is violating their rights, can and will challenge the offending law or policy. If residents cannot use their rights because of financial barriers, then Canada’s constitutional democracy is hollow. Governments must care that the rights they embrace are not meaningless, and the CCP has provided a simple and modest way of ensuring that they are not. We should emphasize that what the CCP provides is far from universal access to the exercise of constitutional equality and language rights. The CCP provides only limited funds for selected test cases.

Critics of the CCP dislike some of the cases that it has supported: cases related to same sex marriage, voting rights for federal prisoners, criminal law provisions regarding hitting children. The fact that some individuals or groups do not agree with some of the test cases funded by the Program is not a reason to cancel it. No one among us is likely to agree with every single test case that appears. The point of a constitutional human rights regime is to ensure that diverse claims, perspectives and life experiences are respected and taken into account in the design of laws and policies. The equality guarantee and the language rights in the Constitution were designed to help minorities, whose views and needs may not be reflected by governments, to be heard on issues that affect them closely. Cancelling the Court Challenges Program mutes their voices further, and makes Canada a meaner, less tolerant society.

The Minister of Justice, the Honourable Vic Toews, has questioned the accountability of the Court Challenges Program. This is not a sustainable objection. The Court Challenges Program has an established track record as an effective and accountable institution that promotes access to justice. It provides quarterly reports on its activities to the government and publishes an annual report with statistics on the number and types of cases that it has funded. The annual reports are public documents and are available on the CCP’s website: www.ccppcj.ca. It has been evaluated on three separate occasions by independent evaluators, most recently in 2003-2004, and received an extremely positive report each time.

The CCP is subject to some legal restrictions on disclosing information about cases that are before the courts. This information is protected by solicitor-client privilege and cannot be released by CCP, in the same way that legal aid organizations cannot divulge information about their clients. The CCP’s responsibility to protect this information was affirmed by a Federal Court ruling in 2000 (L’Hirondelle v. The Queen).

In short, Prime Minister, criticisms of the Court Challenges Program are feeble, and the need for the Program is strong. It is disturbing that your Government, in a budget-cutting exercise, would take the step of cancelling this Program that is considered by many Canadians a cornerstone of our justice system.

Commitment to the protection of the Charter rights of disadvantaged individuals and groups is one of Canada’s core values. Prime Minister, you recognized this commitment in the last election campaign, when you stated that if elected, a Conservative government would “articulate Canada’s core values on the world stage,” including “the rule of law”, “human rights” and “compassion for the less fortunate.”

In May, 2006, your Government appeared before a UN Committee in Geneva to defend it’s commitment to human rights in Canada, and described the Court Challenges Program as evidence of this commitment. Your Government wrote to the UN Committee:

The Court Challenges Program (CCP) provides funding for test cases of national significance in order to clarify the understanding of the rights of official language minority communities and the equality rights of disadvantaged groups. …

It is not possible for the government to support all court challenges, but this uniquely Canadian program has been successful in supporting a number of important court cases that have had direct impacts on the implementation of linguistic and equality rights in Canada. A recent evaluation found that there remain dimensions of the constitutional provisions currently covered by the CCP that still require clarification and the current program was extended to March 2009.

The cancellation of the Program stands in contradiction to the position that you and your Government have taken publicly on the Charter and human rights.

Finally, cancelling the Program shows profound disrespect for the francophones who live in provinces outside of Quebec, the anglophones in Quebec, and for all Canadian residents who may need the protection of equality rights, including women, Aboriginal peoples, people with disabilities, members of racialized minorities, immigrants, refugees, lesbians and gay men, children and seniors.

The laws of Canada are never perfect. Those who need to point out the imperfections in our laws, in order that they may live on an equal footing with others, deserve to be heard. By cancelling the Court Challenges Program, your Government has indicated that they will not be and do not deserve to be.

Please reverse this decision and give us back a Canada that supports human rights.

39th Parliament

First reading May 17, 2006 Second reading September 25, 2006 – Opposition Bloc Québécois and Liberal MP’s joined the NDP in supporting the bill at its second reading. Committee hearings on the bill are expected in December or January.

Bill C-303
An Act to establish criteria and conditions in respect of funding for early learning and child care programs in order to ensure the quality, accessibility, universality and accountability of those programs, and to appoint a council to advise the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development on matters relating to early learning and child care.

More information

—–

Canada “At The Bottom Of The List For Childcare”
SooNews.ca
September 25, 2006
Press Release

OTTAWA –The NDP’s Early Learning and Childcare Act moves to second reading in the House of Commons today, landmark legislation to enshrine a national child care program as a cornerstone of Canada, side by side with the Canada Health Act.

“This will be a vital debate, as we have an opportunity to move forward after years of false starts and setbacks under the Mulroney Conservatives, four Liberal governments, and now the Harper Conservatives,” said Olivia Chow, NDP child care critic.

Sault MP Tony Martin said “passing this legislation will ensure reliable provincial transfers for child care spaces — while entrenching the principles of quality, universality, accessibility, accountability, and educational development. These are national standards we vitally need.”

“Early learning and child care is in disarray in Canada. Programs are fragmented across the country – there is no consistency of standards, availability, accessibility or affordability. Waiting lists across the country are so long that most kids will never get a childcare space.

A recent report by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) puts Canada at the bottom of the list when it comes to childcare and shows that Canada’s child care investments are so inadequate that our future productivity, economic competitiveness and growth are at risk.

The cancellation of the money the government finally committed last year to the provinces is making things even worse. Planned new centres are not opening, because the funding will be cut in a few months time.

Martin said the bogus $1,200 child care allowance is doing nothing to create new spaces. Children deserve better.

“We have a chance to move forward.” said NDP MP Denise Savoie. “Rather than just allowing the government to take this disastrous and short sighted course, we can take this historic opportunity to affirm a Canadian commitment to early learning and childcare. We can make it happen. This bill maps out the course. This is vitally important to the future of Canada. We urge MPs of all parties to take action and support this bill.”

Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ottawa: FAFIA, a pan-Canadian alliance of women’s and human rights organizations, is denouncing the $5 million cut to the federal department of Status of Women over two years. These cuts will be taken from its modest annual budget of $13 million. The grants and contributions arm ($11 million) of the department was not affected.

“These cuts will critically affect the federal government’s own commitment to live up to its equality commitments to women,” said Shelagh Day, Co-Chair of the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA).

FAFIA is also dismayed by the elimination of the Court Challenges Program. “This Program has provided Canadian women with their only access to the use of their constitutional equality rights,” said Shelagh Day. “Equality rights have no meaning in Canada if women, and other Canadians who face discrimination, cannot use them.”

“Constitutional cases are too expensive for women to mount on their own.

Without this test case fund, women simply do not have access to the courts when their rights are violated.”

During the last federal election campaign, Stephen Harper promised to “take concrete and immediate measures…to ensure that Canada fully upholds its commitments to women.” These cuts are not consistent with Mr. Harper’s election promise,” said Day

Status of Women Canada is responsible for equipping the federal government to conduct gender based analysis of all policies and programs. It also provides internal expertise on specific policy initiatives. The department’s budget is one of the smallest of any department at the federal level.

An Expert Panel on accountability mechanisms for gender equality, that made its report just before the last federal election, concluded that Status of Women Canada needed to be significantly strengthened in order to better perform its function as a watchdog for women’s equality. The cut to SWC ignores those crucial recommendations.

For more information, contact FAFIA’s co-chair, Shelagh Day

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Government’s real priorities revealed

OTTAWA, Sept. 26 /CNW/ – We are deeply concerned about the gutting of theonly federal agency that addresses critical questions pertaining to equality and about what it suggests about what this government’s true intentions are for equality matters in Canada.

Announced Monday, the 5 million dollar cut to Status of Women Canada (SWC) is a serious attack on the lone federal department engaged in the development of gender responsive policy and in the fulfillment of Canada’s human rights obligations to women at the international, domestic, and inter-governmental levels.

We now see the government’s real priorities revealed.

SWC is home to the Women’s Program which funds organizations that monitor and work to uphold Canada’s accountability to the principles of equality enshrined in the Charter and in the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

The announcement of the SWC cut follows last week’s 11th hour restitution of federal funding to some national women’s organizations by Minister Beverley Oda and appears to be the latest cat-and-mouse game being played with the values held by a majority of Canadians.

The strength and integrity of SWC is integral to efforts of organizations working to protect women’s rights. We do work such as this because while some crucial legal reforms have granted equality to women in Canada, the substance of daily life for many women fails to live up to the promise that formal structures indicate.

The gap between real-life experience and legal equality is the basis for much of the work undertaken by SWC and the women’s groups it supports. Until now, they were together supported at the bargain-basement cost of $24 million federal dollars a year (compared to the $15 billion announced by Harper in June for military vehicles over the next few years).

The announced set of cuts raises serious concerns about the Harper Government’s ability to effectively steward the social values of Canadians. As such, we will be watching closely in the coming weeks for what other truths are revealed regarding this government’s commitment to women’s equality in Canada, and to the full equality of all citizens.

Signed:

Canadian Council for Muslim Women (CCMW)
Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW)
Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA)
Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW)
Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada (CCAAC)
DAWN Ontario: DisAbled Women’s Network
MATCH International
Womenspace
YWCA Canada

Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, announced the creation of a ministerial advisory committee that will advise her on the design of the Child Care Spaces Initiative.

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Editorial: Harper’s dubious child-care panel
Sep. 8, 2006
Toronto Star

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has strong ideas on child care. He does not see the need for a national child-care plan that meets the needs of all families. And an advisory committee the government has just appointed to provide advice is not likely to contradict him.

Most of the members of the nine-person committee named this week by Human Resources Minister Diane Finley already are on record as supporting the Conservative proposal….

The new committee is chaired by Gordon Chong, a former Toronto city councillor and ex-chairman of GO Transit, who has said publicly that he supports Harper’s approach because it provides “choices” for families.

Other members include a private child-care operator; the president of a support group for stay-at-home mothers that rallied against the Liberal daycare strategy; the head of a right-wing think-tank; and, oddly, the head of a company that develops computer programming for prison systems.

Just two committee members represent the non-profit sector.

And while community organizations and municipal governments operate fully 70 per cent of all child-care spaces across Canada, none is represented on the advisory panel.

The Tories promise “choice.” But the fact is that most working families do not have much choice at all. At present, regulated child care meets the needs of only one in six children under the age of 12. That is why the Liberals recognized the urgent need to provide more spaces, before they were turned out of office earlier this year.

Harper and the Conservatives hope to create 125,000 child-care spaces over the next five years by providing tax credits to employers — an approach tried in Ontario in the mid-1990s that proved a failure — as well as capital grants and loans to care providers. They have no intention of providing ongoing operating support to the provinces to ensure that the spaces are sustainable.

This is a poor substitute for the $5 billion deal reached by the Liberals and signed by each of the provinces….

In theory, the new child-care committee’s mandate is “to provide advice on the child-care needs of Canadian families and the role and interests of employers.” At best, that is a mixed message to a skewed panel. Child care should be about children and ensuring that all of them get the best quality care. Employers can be counted on to look out for their own interests.

The committee’s makeup confirms that the Harper government is not interested in working with the provinces to create new, regulated, sustainable child-care spaces. If it were, the committee would be more balanced, with more input from municipal and community actors, the not-for-profit sector and working families.

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Advocates fear Tory committee too biased
Sep. 7, 2006
TONDA MACCHARLES
OTTAWA BUREAU

EXCERPT

OTTAWA—Daycare advocates slammed the federal Conservatives yesterday, saying a new ministerial advisory committee on child care is unnecessary and biased against non-profit daycare.

MP Olivia Chow (NDP—Trinity-Spadina) said the nine-member committee appointed this week by Human Resources Minister Diane Finley is “packed” with private-sector appointments while provinces, and not-for-profit experts in child-care delivery are marginalized.

“The advisory committee is unbalanced, unaccountable and shows the minister’s extraordinary unwillingness to work with the provinces and experts to create real sustainable child-care spaces,” said Chow.

Finley has asked the committee to report this fall on how to design an initiative that would meet the Conservative promise to create 125,000 new child-care spaces over five years.

Chow said five committee members are on record or work with organizations “which are on record supporting the Conservative child-care scheme as opposed to public, not-for-profit child-care spaces.”

She questioned the appointment of the head of Syscon Justice Systems Ltd., Floyd Sully, saying he “has expertise in developing computer programming for prison systems; perhaps Mr. Harper has a prison model in mind when it comes to child-care spaces for Canadian children.”

Only one committee member is associated with the delivery of public child care, she said. Others suggested two members could be considered friends of non-profit child care: Don Giesbrecht, president of the Canadian Child Care Federation, and Georgina Steinsky-Schwartz, head of Imagine Canada, which promotes social entrepreneurship.

Morna Ballantyne, co-ordinator of Code Blue (a coalition of 30 organizations lobbying for a national daycare program and operational funding along the lines promised by the federal Liberals) echoed Chow’s concerns.

The Liberal daycare program is to be scrapped next February by the Conservatives and replaced with an as-yet undefined program of corporate tax credits — which were tried and failed in Ontario in the mid ’90s — or capital grants and loans to create spaces. The Tories have sworn not to provide ongoing operating funds to the provinces….

The chair of the new committee is Gordon Chong, who ran for the Ontario Progressive Conservative party in 1987. A former city councillor and head of GO Transit, Chong now heads Toronto’s social housing services corporation.

Chong defended his views as not biased in favour of any result, adding he believes strongly in mixing private- and public-sector delivery of services “whether it’s housing or child care.”

He said it is “unfortunate” that Chow and other critics have “prejudged what conclusions we’re going to come to because I certainly haven’t done that.”

Colleen Cameron, the minister’s press secretary, yesterday dismissed the critics’ concerns. The committee members were selected for their “expertise and experience in child care, work-family issues, community organizations and the needs of employers,” she said, not their adherence to the Conservative party’s line.

Don Giesbrecht of the Canadian Child Care Federation, who was also named to the committee, said he’s “keeping an open mind” about the work.

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More talk, still no action, says CUPE on new federal child care committee
September 6, 2006

Media release

Yesterday’s announcement by the federal government of the creation of an advisory committee on child care “has been done before, and will probably generate the same recommendations that we have seen for the past twenty years or more,” said CUPE’s National President Paul Moist today….

According to an article in the Vancouver Sun/Can West News

– As the federal government sends out the first $100 cheques under its new Universal Child Care Benefit program, it is also cutting a $20.75 young child supplement for hundreds of thousands of low- and middle-income families in a move one critic calls “a real sneaky one.”

– 769,000 families who received the supplement last year will no longer get it as of this month, is not including any explanation about the phase-out of the supplement with the three million Child Tax Benefit cheques.

– Ken Battle, of the Caledon Institute of Social Policy, calls the elimination of the young child supplement “sneaky.” He says he suspects the government is relying on the complexities of the programs to keep people from grasping that they won’t get as much as they think.

“The government didn’t come out and explain to people that yes, you are going to get a $1,200-a-year new benefit, but by the way, if you get the young child supplement — which is mainly for low- and middle-income people — you are going to lose $249,” from cuts to the Child Tax Benefit program. “I think it’s a case of what we usually call ‘stealth,’ where the technical design details of a social program aren’t widely understood and therefore people end up getting less than they think.”

– Families with young children who qualify for the new universal benefit program can no longer collect the young child supplement paid under the Canada Child Tax Benefit Program, leaving those affected with a net gain of less than $80 a month, not $100.

– July marks the start of a new program year, when each family’s benefit amounts are changed based on their previous year’s income tax filing, it may be difficult for some people to spot what has changed when they get their cheques in the next few days.

– Colleen Cameron, press secretary to Human Resources Minister Diane Finley, who has the lead responsibility for the program, says there was no attempt to mislead or sneak anything by the public.”It was part of our plan. It was listed on our website, I don’t think it was anything that we tried to sneak past in any backwards way,” she said.

– According to Battle, a couple with one wage earner would keep $987 of the $1,200 after tax; a two-earner couple would keep $935, and the single-parent family would keep just $826 because the $1,200 of extra taxable income pushes that parent into a higher tax bracket than either of the other two.

Even a single mother, living on welfare with an income too low to tax, would not escape some sort of clawback, he said. Her $1,200 per child payment would melt to $951, due to the loss of the young child supplement in the Child Tax Benefit program.

– Eliminating the young child supplement will save the government about $340 million this year and $400 million annually after it is completely eliminated next year.

Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada

The results of a poll show that Canadians are rejecting Stephen Harper’s plan to distribute a $1,200 child allowance to parents with children under six years of age. The Environics poll asked more than 2,000 Canadians their views on child care and the response was clear – 76% of Canadians support a national affordable child care strategy. “Support for a national child care strategy was high across the country – in both rural and urban communities, in all provinces, and across all demographics.”

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Canadians pick Liberal child-care plan over Tory cheques: poll
By: SUE BAILEY, Canadian Press
June 20, 2006

OTTAWA — Most Canadians favour Liberal over Conservative plans for dealing with what they say is a serious lack of affordable child care, suggests a new poll commissioned by a child-care advocacy group.

Fifty per cent of respondents preferred a national, accessible early learning system as promised by the former government, says the Environics Research survey.

That compares with 35 per cent who favoured the $1,200-a-year family allowance proposed by the Conservatives for each child under age six.

“A very strong majority believes government has an important role to support families in accessing high-quality child care,” says Monica Lysack, executive director of the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada, which commissioned the poll.

“I think it’s important to remind this government that their approach just doesn’t wash with Canadians.

“That could cost the Conservatives some votes.”

Social Development Minister Diane Finley counters that the Tory plan offers “the best of both worlds.

“What we’re doing is creating 125,000 new spaces and giving the $1,200.”

Critics discount that claim because it’s based on a strategy of tax incentives to urge businesses to open child-care centres. They note that similar efforts have failed in the past because no funding was provided to offset prohibitive operating costs.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has conceded that the $250-million tax incentive plan “is not perfect.”

Ms. Lysack’s group has led the charge for child-care advocates who favour multi-year funding for provinces to create and sustain new spaces. She says the survey was paid for using donations, not government grants…

Mr. Harper announced early after the Conservatives took power that such funding would be axed after March 31, 2007. Instead, the Tories say the family allowance gives parents more choice to spend federal dollars as they see fit.

Just over 2,000 Canadians were asked the following question in a telephone poll between May 5 and 10:

“The new Conservative government has announced as one of its major platforms a new child-care plan that will provide parents with a $1,200 per year allowance for each child under six to help them pay for child care. This plan will replace the national early learning and child care system announced by the previous government, which was to provide provincial funding to create 100,000 new affordable child care spaces. Which one of these two plans for child care do you think the government should implement?”

Support for a national child-care system was high across Canada, in urban and rural areas and among families with a stay-at-home parent, said Derek Leebosh, senior associate with Environics.

“It shows that Canadians put a very high value on child care. They think it’s important that it be available and accessible.”

A solid majority of those polled questioned why there can’t be a family allowance and an improved child-care network, he said.

“A lot of Canadians feel like maybe they’re being forced to make a bit of false choice. Why can’t we have both? There’s huge surpluses. It’s not like we’re in a deficit.

“They don’t want to see [the $1,200 cheques] come at the expense of funding of affordable child-care programs.”

Almost half of respondents said they were less supportive of the family allowance after learning a portion will be taxed back.

As for voting intentions in the next federal election, Conservatives eager to turn their minority into a majority may find the poll results instructive.

Sixty-one per cent of respondents who voted NDP in the last election said they’d be less likely to support the Tories if they cancel the national child-care strategy in favour of the $1,200 cheques.

Fifty-eight per cent of Liberal voters and 49 per cent of Bloc Québécois supporters said the same…

His plan “acknowledges and supports the 2/3 of parents who do not use 9 to 5 institutional day care…”

Read the full speech

EXCERPT only

Before I begin this morning, I’d like to thank Willingdon Family Drop Off here at the Willingdon Community Centre for being kind enough to allow us to use their facility this morning. …

… we will deliver a universal choice in child care plan to Canadian families ….

The previous government spent a lot of time talking about child care.

And since the election, they’ve been beating their chests on the issue.

But for all of their talk, they have precious little to show for it.

Their national child care program never materialized…

And after 13 years of rhetoric, no one can find those universally-free, readily-accessible, federally-created day care spaces.

So where did all the child care money go?

Well, for starters, politicians got their child care money.

So did armies of academics, researchers and special interest groups.

But what about parents?

No direct financial support. And no new spaces.

My friends, the old approach was a failure.

And that’s just not good enough for parents who have been waiting and waiting for child care….

The Government’s Plan for Childcare

Over the past 13 years, we’ve been treated to a lot of fancy words on childcare.

But the truth of the matter is that not a single Canadian family has received direct financial support…

For starters, this spring we‚re going to include in our first budget a family allowance for childcare worth $1200 a year per child under the age of six.

The question that the opposition must answer is simple.

Do they support the $1200 allowance for children, or do they support the status quo…?

The new approach to child care starts now.

We will ask Parliament to approve a universal choice in child care allowance.

An allowance that will deliver to parents a direct payment of $1200 per year, per child under six…

This approach requires no federal-provincial negotiations.

No funding for academics, researchers or special interest groups… It provides direct payment. ..

Our new approach enhances parental choice.

It acknowledges and supports the 2/3 of parents who do not use 9 to 5 institutional day care…