Finance Minister’s Speech

REACTIONS to the UPDATE

Budget ignores job losses and climbing unemployment
BC Federation of Labour
September 1, 2009

The provincial budget update released today by Finance Minister Colin Hansen ignores the hardships faced by tens of thousands of unemployed British Columbians and their families, focussing instead on minimizing the deficit and tax cuts.

“This budget is another spin doctor’s dream, until you walk out the door into the real world and realize that we have more than 150,000 people without jobs, forest communities in crisis, seniors without proper care and students without a chance to get a decent education or proper training,” says Jim Sinclair, President of the B.C. Federation of Labour.

“At a time when industrialized countries around the world are spending aggressively to protect and create jobs, the Campbell administration is preoccupied instead with minimizing the deficit which will cause even more job losses,” says Jim Sinclair.

“This budget does nothing to get people back to work. It does nothing to get people into classrooms for training or retraining. It does nothing to help British Columbians weather the economic downturn or prepare for a recovery,” Sinclair added. “In real terms, the government should be spending money to put people in school and to work. Instead of helping people and communities they are going to axe 1,500 jobs in the public sector.”

Sinclair also noted that today the minimum wage in British Columbia became the lowest in Canada.

“The people of British Columbia do not want an HST tax transfer from consumers to corporations, instead they want the HST killed and the minimum wage raised,” he said. “Shame on Gordon Campbell for telling us to tighten our belts while he has doubled his own salary and benefits.”

Although the government says it is protecting health care and education, the front line workers who deliver those services are anticipating severe cuts in both health care and education. “Every day we hear of cuts to health care and education but to listen to the Finance Minister all is well in British Columbia and there’s lots of money for services.”

“Colin Hansen was the last Finance Minister in the industrialized world to spot this economic collapse. He now wants us to believe that he’s spotted a supposed recovery,” Sinclair added. “This government doesn’t understand that a so-called ‘jobless recovery’ is not a real recovery. BC has lost full-time jobs faster than any other province. This budget does nothing to reduce those numbers, and combined with the HST will lead to even more lost jobs.”

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Working families pay more and get less from B.C. budget
BCGEU
Sep 1 ’09

Today’s provincial budget continues the pattern established by the B.C. Liberal government of shifting the tax burden onto working families and cutting core public services, says the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union.

“While other governments are introducing comprehensive stimulus packages to weather the recession, the Campbell government is increasing costs to working families and starving public services,” says BCGEU President Darryl Walker.

The recession is already taking its toll on B.C. families with the number of Employment Insurance recipients up 140% and temporary income assistance caseloads up 56.5% since last summer.

“It’s clear that the B.C. Liberal government has no credible plan to address the startling increase in poverty and the ever-expanding services deficit in this province,” says Walker. “The government is taking us down a highly irresponsible path. As public services continue to be gutted, local economies will suffer and the recession will be deeper and longer than it needs to be.”

Although the Campbell government acknowledges that B.C. has one of the leanest public services in Canada, and that there is a significant recruitment and retention problem, the government has no viable plan to rejuvenate the public service.

The budget promises a reduction of 1,500 jobs over the next three years through layoffs and attrition and re-affirms the government’s plans for a freeze on public sector wages. This continues the attack on the public service that began in 2001 when deep and broad-based cuts were made across all ministries.

“The Liberal cuts since 2001 have been particularly devastating for the ‘heartlands’ where key public services have been taken from many communities or eliminated altogether,” says Walker.

Today’s budget confirmed and deepened cuts to important environmental programs such as the Ministry of Environment’s parks, protection, and stewardship programs; Ministry of Forests & Range’s compliance and enforcement programs; and Ministry of Agriculture’s land restoration programs.

The Ministry of Transportation’s highways maintenance and commercial vehicle inspection will see cuts of $29 million this year, with more cuts scheduled for the next two years.

Other Ministries facing administrative and program cuts are Children & Families, Citizen Services, Community Development, Education, Finance, and Labour.

However, nowhere in the budget documents are the number of full-time equivalent jobs (FTEs) listed ministry-by-ministry.

“The lack of transparency in this budget is shocking,” says Walker. “Hiding these numbers makes it difficult to tell what the impact of the public service cuts will mean to British Columbians.”

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Budget update – operating grants to districts unchanged
BC School Trustees Association

This afternoon, the government released its September update to its budget and fiscal plan. For K-12 education, the operating grants to boards remain unchanged to the amounts announced last February. However, other segments of the budget that cover facility grants and other discretionary grants have been cut.

Funding for the gradual implementation of full-day Kindergarten will appear in future budgets, with an additional $44 million expected for 2010 and $107 million for 2011. Although no exemptions from the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) were announced for boards of education, Finance Minister Colin Hansen said that governments will look at any incremental costs incurred by boards due to the HST when planning for next year’s budget.

President Denesiuk stated that, “while it is good news that board allocations have not been reduced, we know that costs continue to rise, increasing financial pressure on boards. The loss of AFG funding and other discretionary grants will have a significant impact on boards and will affect staffing and programs.”

Read more

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Back-to-school budget fails BC kids
BCTF News Release
Sept 1, 2009

The latest BC Liberal budget, delivered one week before students head back to school, will not protect public education and will lead to more cuts in our classrooms, BC Teachers’ Federation Vice-President Susan Lambert said today.

“Once again, this government has brought forward a budget that will see school boards pressured to make dramatic cuts to BC’s kids,” said Lambert. “School boards will be forced to pay for an increase in Medical Service Plan rates, the first since 2002, without receiving any extra funding to cover the costs. That will have a direct impact on classrooms.”

As students get ready to head back to the classroom, school boards are already reeling from a $110 million cut to the Annual Facilities Grant. Over the summer, school boards planned and in most cases paid for important school repairs and upgrades. Last week, the minister of education abruptly announced that grant would no longer be funded, sending many district budgets into disarray.

“The government’s promise to implement all-day Kindergarten is also raising big red flags,” said Lambert. “There’s no new funding this year to start planning, developing curriculum, or securing space. We could be looking at another broken promise and more disappointment a year from now.

“This budget doesn’t even meet the needs of students today, let alone a year from now. There is no new funding to reduce class sizes or improve support for students with special needs. We already know that there will be 500–600 fewer teachers when classes resume next week. This budget will only make things worse for BC’s kids.”

In addition to the $110 million cut to the Annual Facilities Grant, school boards were told last spring to cut $12 million in their administration costs. The government also cut the operating funding for BC School Sports, an organization that runs extra-curricular athletic programs across the province.

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Working families pay more, get less
CUPE BC
NEWS RELEASE – September 1, 2009

BC Budget increases middle class tax burden

VICTORIA—The Provincial Budget announced today cuts jobs, reduces services for people who need them most, and continues the Liberal shift of the tax burden away from corporations and the wealthy onto the middle class, says the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

“The government can’t have it both ways,” says CUPE BC president Barry O’Neill. “They can’t say, on one hand, that the budget is all about protecting vital services while at the same time cutting funds for K-12 and post-secondary education, student aid and day care.”

School boards will be particularly hard hit by the Budget, facing more than $130 million cuts in both of the next two years. In addition, school boards will not be exempt from the Harmonized Sales Tax. “And we’re not talking about frills with these cuts. Even repair costs that accompany seismic upgrades in public schools, such as roof replacements, mechanical and electrical system upgrades, and asbestos abatement, are no longer funded,” says O’Neill.

With post-secondary institutions also getting cuts in infrastructure funding, the condition of B.C. colleges and universities will continue to deteriorate, he adds. Working families and the middle class will have to eat new MSP and HST expenses, and students who can’t find jobs in the summer will have their student aid cut.

The BC Budget also hurts communities with cuts to community service agencies. Capital project grants, playground grants and three-year grants will no longer be eligible for funding this year from community gaming grants.

Nor is daycare exempt from the budget knife. “How can the government boast about protecting vital services when they’re cutting daycare in the Downtown Eastside?” asks O’Neill, referring specifically to cuts at Ray-Cam Cooperative Community Centre in Vancouver, which lost three positions that work with special needs children.

“What all British Columbians expect is fair taxation. But middle class families will pay more in regressive taxes like the HST and the MSP while wealthy British Columbians will get more of the benefits from tax cuts. How is that fair?”

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CCPA – Policy Notes

For K-12 education the picture is much worse, with a cut of $31 million from February — a measly $3 million increase over 2008/09 (on a budget of $5.7 billion). This is going to hurt and already school districts and schools across BC are implementing cuts to staff and increases in class size. For post-secondary education there is an increase of $160 million from February and $177 million, or 3.9%, over 2008/09 –  not great (especially with the prospect of rising enrollment due to the recession) but increases nonetheless.

What is going to sting are a litany of smaller cuts spread across all of the government’s operations, in particular reduced or eliminated grants to NGO service providers and charities, arts and culture groups, and students. All told these cuts are tiny compared to the overall provincial budget, but devastating to the programs themselves.

Read more

The Honourable Steven L. Point, OBC Lieutenant-Governor at the Opening of the First Session, Thirty-Ninth Parliament of the Province of British Columbia, August 25, 2009

… Government will place early learning and early-childhood development at the forefront of efforts to improve our education services.

Neighbourhood learning centres will become the focus of intensive activities with city councils, library boards, recreation commissions, parents and professionals. Government will work to establish educational and preschool opportunities in the midst of the neighbourhoods where our families live. Together, we can work to centre neighbourhoods and communities on the needs of our families, their children’s education and the environment.

Full-time, five-year-old kindergarten will begin to be delivered in schools throughout British Columbia in September of 2010…..

Read the whole speech

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REACTION to the BC Throne Speech

Throne speech signals continued instability for the public sector
BCGEU
Aug 26 ’09

The B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union says yesterday’s throne speech does little to ease British Columbians’ concerns about the future of the province’s vital public services.

“This throne speech signals widespread cuts that are irresponsible in our current economic situation,” says BCGEU President Darryl Walker.

References to cuts in the throne speech were vague, but signaled an uncertain future for health care, community social services, and other public services in British Columbia.

“The cuts that have been made so far have affected the most vulnerable,” says Walker, referring to the recent cuts to legal aid, libraries, literacy programs, student aid, housing, seniors’ services, and mental health and addictions services.

“It seems like the opposite of what British Columbians need right now.”

The BCGEU is critical of the government’s lack of proper planning to avoid the rash of cutbacks that will serve to deepen the effects of the recession.

“Just a few months ago the government was saying that everything was fine and now we are looking at deeper cuts and larger deficits,” says Walker.

“Communities rely on public services and public sector employment to stay alive,” says Walker. “If the government follows through on plans from earlier this year to cut up to 5% of the public service, we will see a huge impact on local economies that are already suffering. It could mean as many as 1,500 jobs cut, and over $200 million in lost economic activity in communities around BC.”

In terms of the public sector wage freeze, Walker states, “The government offers contradictory messages when talking about the public service. They re-announce a wage freeze but then talk about rejuvenation of the public service.”

“They are well aware of the issues we face in recruitment and retention in the public sector, and wages and other ways to solve these issues are something that we will be discussing at the bargaining table next year.”

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Spending cuts would kill thousands jobs and deepen recession
Report calculates economic and social impacts of limiting deficit during recession
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Aug 27, 2009

(VANCOUVER) In the wake of Tuesday’s Throne Speech signaling major cuts in public spending, a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) cautions that cuts will only make the recession worse.

CCPA’s modeling shows the status quo (or underlying) deficit for the current year will likely be between $3.2 and $3.9 billion. If the provincial government cuts between $1 billion and $2 billion in public spending to reduce the size of that deficit, it will further depress GDP by 0.9% to 1.8%, kill 18,000 to 35,000 jobs, and increase the unemployment rate by up to 1.5%.

That spells a deeper and longer recession, according to Iglika Ivanova, economist and author of September BC Budget Reality Check: Facing the Full Force of the Recession. “These deficits are cyclical. They are a direct result of the recession and do not threaten the long-term health of provincial finances. On the other hand, cutting spending during a serious recession will actually harm the economy.”

“The vast majority of policy makers in Canada now recognize the vital role of governments in stimulating the economy to protect jobs and incomes during a recession,” says Ivanova. “Yet despite having abandoned its balanced budget legislation earlier this year, BC’s government seems determined to run as small a deficit as possible — even if it has to cut key public programs and services to do so.”

“Spending cuts will make it harder for low and middle income British Columbians to weather the recession. BC already has the highest child poverty rate in the country. We cannot afford to push more people into hardship,” says Ivanova. “Middle class families already take home lower incomes than their parents’ generation, and most entered the recession with record-high debt. Reducing access to services like child care or public libraries will only shift costs onto individual families.”

The report recommends that the provincial government accept recession-driven deficits and protect vital public services, and fully fund the budget shortfalls of health authorities and school boards. It recommends additional stimulus spending to cushion the impact of the recession, to be invested in social and green infrastructure and poverty reduction measures.

More info

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Grassroots Women says B.C. government needs to adequately address the childcare crisis
Grassroots Women BC
August 26, 2009

Vancouver, B.C. – The B.C. government’s announcement on Tuesday for funding full-day kindergarten in September 2010 does little for working-class moms and kids preparing to go back to school in a matter of weeks.

“B.C. is not only lagging behind other provinces, they are also not dealing with the entire problem,” states Monica Urrutia, Chair of Grassroots Women.

Grassroots Women has been raising awareness on the actual state of the childcare crisis and its impact on working-class women and their children. Nothing is being done to address the needs of many families regarding pre-school aged children and for school-aged children before and after school hours.

“As a single mom I’m constantly juggling my part-time job with childcare needs for my two children,” shares Hetty Alcuitas, member of Grassroots Women. “My son is starting kindergarten this fall and full-day kindergarten would have helped a bit, but it would not resolve my problem of what to do with my children before and after school when I’m supposed to be at work.” she says.

B.C. has the worst record of child poverty in Canada and women cannot address their poverty without a comprehensive childcare solution.  Grassroots Women has been calling for universal childcare as a woman’s right for years, and last month held a press conference calling on the Minister and her Opposition Critic to clearly state what both political parties are doing to address the childcare crisis now.

“We also fear that this upcoming budget announcement will deepen the poverty working-class women and children live with everyday. Cuts to health and education will immediately impact the services these families receive, and it is often these very women who then end up bearing the burden and filling the gap, when they are already dealing with the onslaught of the current financial crisis,” adds Urrutia.

Grassroots Women continues to call on the government to seriously address the childcare crisis and end the planned cuts to needed social services.

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Throne speech signals uncertainty for health care
Hospital Employees’ Union
August 25, 2009

The Hospital Employees’ Union says today’s throne speech offers little comfort to B.C. families and communities who need to know that quality and accessible health care will be available even in tough economic times.

The government’s promise to protect health care has already been badly compromised by its direction to health authorities to make more than $300 million in spending cuts to critical services, including seniors’ care, community health programs, surgeries and diagnostic procedures.

“British Columbians are looking to government to ensure that health care and other vital public services are protected, especially when their own economic security is at risk,” says HEU secretary-business manager Judy Darcy.

“But government’s actions so far this summer and the message in today’s throne speech provide little reassurance to families and communities.”

Darcy says a planned review of health authority spending and operations will fail if its chief objective is to pave the way for further cuts.

“Our health care system is already stretched to capacity. Further cuts to front-line services and staff would be a costly mistake,” says Darcy.

“A rushed review to meet budget pressures is doomed to fail patients and cost taxpayers more in the long run. Careful planning and consultation with front-line staff is key to finding better ways to deliver services to the public.”

In response to the government’s re-announcement of a public-sector wage freeze, HEU says that the province’s fiscal situation must be balanced against the reality of ongoing retention and recruitment issues.

For many health professionals represented by HEU, like Licensed Practical Nurses, wages are no longer competitive with those in neighbouring provinces and do not reflect increased training requirements and expanded responsibilities.

“Government has acknowledged that we need to rejuvenate the ranks in health care and other parts of the public sector in the face of an aging workforce,” says Darcy.

“Our union is committed to working with government at the bargaining table and in other venues to make sure that British Columbians continue to have access to skilled and experienced health care workers in the future.”

BACKGROUNDER – Highlights of the Full Day Learning Plan

With Our Best Future in Mind: Implementing Early Learning in Ontario
Charles E. Pascal, Special Advisor on Early Learning

Highlights of the Full Day Learning Plan

• A single program would be in place, with a single child-focused curriculum, planned and delivered by a qualified team of educators using common space and resources.
• Families would have the option of enrolling their 4- and 5-year-olds for the full school day or half day. Extended-day options would also be provided, funded by parent fees.
• Certified teachers and early childhood educators working together would complement each other’s skills and give every child a better early learning experience.
• What happens to children after the bell rings is also important – by affordable, extended-day and summer programming for children to 12 years old the education system will be strengthened even further.
• Schools as hubs for child and family programming would contribute to better outcomes for children and stronger communities.
• Integrating early learning into a single program would result in savings for parents compared with the cost of traditional licensed child care for 4- to 12-year-olds.
• Best Start Child and Family Centres would be formed by consolidating many existing early childhood services into one-stop access for families that include flexible child care, parenting information and resources, play groups, intervention supports for children with special challenges, and links to community agencies.
• Municipalities would provide local leadership for programs for children under 4. School boards would provide local leadership for children from 4 to 12 years old. Provincial leadership would be consolidated under the Ministry of Education.
• The first phase of implementation would include new opportunities for children living in low-income neighbourhoods – and province-wide implementation of full day learning within three years will benefit all children.
• Incremental costs to implement the full day learning plan are estimated at under $1 billion.
• A longer-term goal is to extend parental leave and benefits to allow parents to spend more time with their babies and to reduce the need for expensive infant care.

Background:

• Research shows that children enrolled in full-day learning are better prepared for Grade 1, do better in elementary school, and are more likely to graduate high school.
• One in four Ontario children arrives in Grade 1 with vulnerabilities (social, emotional, physical) and/or learning difficulties. Full-day learning can help identify and address learning problems earlier, avoiding costly and less-effective interventions later.

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Responses to the report and plan

Ontario’s Plan Applauded for Supporting Healthy Children AND Working Families
Media release from CCAAC
June 15, 2009

OTTAWA, ONTARIO — (Marketwire – June 15, 2009) – The Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada (CCAAC) applauds the report called “With our Best Future in Mind – Implementing Early Learning in Ontario.” The recommendations made in this report, if implemented, will ensure that the provincial government meets its commitment to integrate early learning and child care programs across Ontario for 4 and 5 year olds. Authored by Charles Pascal, the Premier’s Special Advisor on Early Learning, the report reflects research, international evidence and family needs – all of which support universal access to quality programs that provide both part-time and full-time choices for parents.

“We commend the Ontario plan for ending two ‘false divides’ often created by governments when it comes to early learning and child care,” states Susan Harney of the CCAAC. “The plan recognizes what parents already know – ‘good child care educates’ and ‘good education cares’.”

Pascal’s recommendations end the traditional divide between education and care, integrating early learning and care into one seamless program. The plan also recognizes that we don’t need to choose between social and economic benefits, between short and long-term impacts, between meeting the needs of children or their working parents. Pascal’s comprehensive recommendations end the false divide between these benefits and impacts, showing that early learning and care programs provide benefits for children, families, communities AND our economy both now AND into the future….

Read the complete release

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Early Learning Advisor’s Recommendations Would Benefit Families and Municipalities
Media release from Association of Municipalities of Ontario

TORONTO, June 15 /CNW/ – The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) today welcomed the release of the report of the Early Learning and Child Care Advisor Charles Pascal.

“AMO looks forward to reviewing the report in detail and to learning more about the Province’s response to the report’s recommendations,” said AMO President Peter Hume.

The report calls for a new provincially funded, school-based system of early learning and child care for four and five year olds. Children under four years of age would continue to be served in the municipally managed system. By removing four and five year olds from the municipal system, the existing resources in that system would be used to better serve children under four, with the hope of increasing access to child care for families with young children.

“A strong early learning and child care system supports a strong and competitive economy. This report calls on the province to make a significant investment in our children and in Ontario’s future prosperity,” said Hume.

The report calls municipalities, “leaders among leaders”, recognizing the need for municipalities to manage and deliver the early learning and child care system for children under the age of four. It also recommends that municipalities have a key role in working with school boards and other partners in the community to develop an integrated early years and child care system for all children in Ontario.

The report contains 20 recommendations for the transformation of early learning and child care in Ontario, many with significant implications for municipalities. Understanding these implications more fully in conjunction with the province’s commitment to investing needed additional resources will ultimately determine the municipal sector’s support for the proposed changes.

AMO is a non-profit organization representing almost all of Ontario’s 444 municipal governments. AMO supports strong and effective municipal government in Ontario and promotes the value of municipal government as a vital and essential component of Ontario and Canada’s political system.

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Betting on the kids
Globe and Mail
Ken Battle; Sherri Torjman, President and vice-president, Caledon Institute of Social Policy
June 17, 2009

Some of Canada’s social programs perform well internationally – public pensions and child benefits come to mind – but we fare miserably when it comes to early learning and child care (Early Is Not Everything – editorial, June 16). Among 25 OECD countries surveyed recently by Unicef, Canada ranked last (along with Ireland) on a set of internationally applicable benchmarks for early childhood care and education.

Most Canadian parents are in the work force, and have to cobble together bits and pieces of child care and early learning for their children. Decades of research and effort on the part of parents, experts and advocates have finally become accepted wisdom: Early learning and child care are crucial to Canada’s social and economic health.

High-quality early learning and child-care services are not just social policy – they’re also core elements of economic policy because they invest in the critical first years of human capital development and enable parents to work or study.

The Pascal report has drawn a bold new architecture for early learning and child care in Ontario. We hope it will spread to other provinces.

Children and Family Development and Minister Responsible for Child Care – Hon. Mary Polak

Education and Minister Responsible for Early Learning and Literacy – Hon. Margaret MacDiarmid

Housing and Social Development – Hon. Rich Coleman

Advanced Education and Labour Market Development – Hon. Moira Stilwell

More information

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SUMMARY OF MINISTRY RESPONSIBILITIES

MINISTRY OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY DEVELOPMENT
(Minister Responsible for Child Care)

General Responsibilities

• Adoption and reunion services
• Child protection and family development
• Foster care
• Child care
• Children and youth with special needs
• Child and Youth Mental Health
• Youth justice programs

Major Agencies, Boards and Commissions

• Board of Registration for Social Workers
• Provincial Child Care Council

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
(Minister Responsible for Early Learning and Literacy)

General Responsibilities

• K-12 standards and accountability
• K-12 funding
• Independent schools
• Community schools
• Action Schools! BC programs
• Early childhood development
• Literacy
• Libraries
• Early Learning Agency
• StrongStart BC Centres

Major Agencies, Boards and Commissions

• Education Advisory Council
• College of Teachers
• Learning Roundtable

MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

General Responsibilities

• Housing and homeless policy
• Building policy
• Safety standards and inspections
• Landlord-tenant dispute resolution
• Income assistance
• Disability assistance
• Delivery of employment programs
• Provincial Disability Strategy
• Adult community living services
• Transition houses
• Mental health and addictions services coordination
• Volunteer and non-profit support
• Liquor control and licensing
• Liquor Distribution Branch
• Gaming policy
• Responsible Gambling Strategy
• Community gaming grants

Major Agencies, Boards and Commissions

• Includes Community Living BC and Employment and Assistance Appeal Tribunal

More information

DEPUTY MINISTERS
Ministry of Children and Family Development – Lesley du Toit
Ministry of Education – James Gorman

First Call Media Release

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Related articles:

New figures from Statistics Canada show that B.C. leads the nation in child poverty for the sixth year in a row
The Province
Jun 4 2009
By: Ian Austin

The StatsCan figures show that 13 per cent of B.C. residents under18 live in poverty — the highest percentage in Canada and well above the national child-poverty average of 9.5 per cent.

On the plus side, the just-released 2007 numbers — the latest available — represent a drop from 2006, when the B.C. rate was 16.5 per cent and the national rate was 11.4 per cent.

“There was some good news in 2007 — the rate was coming down — but B.C. had the highest child-poverty rate for the sixth year in a row,” said Adrienne Montani, principal co-ordinator for First Call, the B.C. Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition.

Montani’s biggest worry was the statistic for single-mother families.

In B.C., 37.4 per cent of children in those families were living in poverty, compared with a national average of 26.6 per cent.

“That’s more than one in three,” said Montani. “There seems to be denial here — the government simply says, ‘The best answer to poverty is a job.'”

Steve Kerstetter of the First Call co-ordinating committee …”There is no magic bullet when you talk about poverty,” he said. “We have too many people working at low-wage jobs. Too many people who are working part of the year, not the whole year, and too many people working part-time.”

Kerstetter said B.C. is a magnet for new immigrants, making the child-poverty issue worse here.

First Call is asking for a minimum 25-per-cent reduction in the child poverty rate by 2012, and a minimum 50 per cent by 2017….

FIRST CALL’S SUGGESTIONS TO ADDRESS CHILD POVERTY

– Raise the minimum wage from $10 to $10.76 per hour immediately, with annual increases pegged to increases in the cost of living.

– Abolish the $6 per hour training wage.

– Make the federal government provide universal access to high-quality, accessible child care.

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BC still the worst in the country for child poverty
Roughly 13 per cent of BC’s children living in poverty
Andrea Macpherson
NEWS1130
June 3rd, 2009

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Once again, B.C. has the most children in the country living in poverty. The latest stats from 2007 show the child poverty rate actually dropped to 13 per cent, from 16.5. But according to Stats Canada that was still well above the national rate of 9.5 per cent. Julie Norton with First Call, the B.C. Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition says it’s shameful that B.C. has the highest rate of child poverty for six years in a row.

She wants to see a commitment to cut child poverty rates in half by 2017 and she wants the government to recognize child poverty as a real issue. Norton also says with people losing their jobs in this recession, there’ll be more poor families in the province in the future.

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Despite big improvement, B.C. child poverty rate remains Canada’s worst
FERNANDO CARNEIRO
METRO VANCOUVER
June 04, 2009

A significant decrease in the number of children living in poverty in 2007 wasn’t enough to keep British Columbia from having the worst childhood poverty rate in the country for the sixth year in a row.

According to Statistics Canada, 13 per cent of children in B.C. lived in poverty in 2007 — a 3.5 per cent improvement over the previous year.

The national average in 2007 was 9.5 per cent.

B.C. NDP Leader Carole James described the numbers as “very worrisome.”

“Those figures are from 2007 when the economy was booming,” James said. “When times are good you should take care of the fundamentals so when times are bad people can take care of their families.”…

James said investments in childcare, affordable housing and stimulus spending, as well a minimum wage increase are needed to pull children and their families out of poverty.

Come and hear what the UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has to say about the Canadian and BC Governments.

Wednesday April 1, 2009
6:30 – 9pm at the Vancouver Public Library

For more info, download the poster

More about BC CEDAW – The B.C. CEDAW Group

December 17, 2008 letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Re: Stimulating the Economy by Investing in Women: Smart Approach to Economic Recovery [EXCERPT]

Child Care

Invest in a national child care program will provide needed early learning for children and allow for women’s fuller participation in paid employment. As the December 2008 UNICEF report and others have pointed out, Canada ranks last in child-care provision among developed countries.

Budget 2009 should provide:

• Adequate and sustained transfers to provinces and territories to increase access to quality, affordable child care spaces and services;
• Accountability mechanisms with provincial plans, timelines and targets for lowering parent fees and adding public or community-owned spaces. In addition, federal transfers should raise wages for trained staff, alleviating the current recruitment and retention crisis in Canada by providing a living wage and raising service quality accordingly;
• It is important that training and adjustment programs are accessible to women and extend beyond the industries immediately impacted. Spending on training for child care and other services should also be part of any training initiative.

Sincerely,

Joanna A. Czapska, on behalf of The B.C. CEDAW Group: Carrie Humchitt, Aboriginal Women’s Action Network; Susan Harney, Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC; Alison Brewin & Kasari Govender, W. Coast Women’s Legal Education & Action Fund; Annabel Webb and Joanna A. Czapska, Justice for Girls; Narmeen Hashim & Leilani Farha, Women’s Housing Equality Network (Canada)

Read the full letter

#1. Teachers vote to leave premier’s failed Learning Round Table
BCTF News Release
March 16, 2009

After three years of meetings and no progress, the 700 elected delegates at the BCTF Annual General Meeting voted to leave the government’s failed Learning Round Table.

“The Learning Round Table has had 12 meetings since Premier Gordon Campbell first announced it, but after three years it has become nothing more than a public relations exercise,” said BCTF President Irene Lanzinger. “Teachers have been full participants in the Round Table, but after years of broken promises and government stalling, they are frustrated. There is no concrete plan or funding to reduce class sizes and improve support for children with special needs.”

At the last Round Table meeting in January, the data presented by the Minister of Education show 3,336 class-size violations with more than 30 students for the 2008–09 school year. That is up from 3,179 in 2007–08. There are also 10,985 class-composition violations this year. That means there are close to 11,000 classes with four or more students with special needs. That number is up from 10,313 in 2007–08. In 2005–06, when BC teachers first went on strike, there were 10,942 violations.

“Learning conditions in BC are worse today than they were before the 2005 strike,” said Lanzinger. “Representatives have gone to meeting after meeting, with no positive results. To stay at the table, teachers were looking see a concrete plan and new resources. Unfortunately, the provincial budget made it clear that there will not be enough funding to even cover basic costs.”

The latest BC Liberal budget, which ignored class-size concerns and support for children with special needs, will force school districts to make cuts. The small 1.26% increase to public education is less than inflation, and will not cover salary increases. In addition, 33 school districts in the province have had their budgets frozen. As a result, students, teachers, and parents should brace for more cuts when the 2009–10 school year begins, Lanzinger said.

Delegates at the BCTF AGM passed the following:

1. That the Federation inform the government that it is withdrawing from the Learning Round Table because the government has failed to provide resources necessary to improve the teaching and learning conditions in BC classrooms.
2. That the Federation communicate this decision and the reasons for it to trustees, parent committees, and the public in general.
3. That the Federation continue to meet bilaterally with the minister of education as contained in the Ready recommendations to affect positive changes to class size and class composition.

#2. Provincial Child Care Council

The Child Care Council’s mandate is:

• to provide advice and expertise on policies and programs which affect the affordability, quality, stability and accessibility of child care, and;
• to represent the regional and sectoral interest of parents, children, caregivers and communities.

Members / Annual Reports

Related article

Child-care cash still on its way
Times Colonist (Victoria)
February 9, 2006
By: Jeff Rud

…. The rest of the $633-million, five-year deal reached by B.C. with the former federal Liberal government will be scrapped. Harper will instead implement the Conservative child care plan, providing families with $1,200 a year for every child under six starting July 1. …B.C. Minister of State for Child Care Linda Reid seemed pleased the province will get second-year funding. “In the campaign, [Harper] wasn’t honouring any part of the agreement,” she said. “In basically a few short days we’re up to Year 2. I think we’re doing fine.”

Not everybody agrees. NDP Leader Carole James said Premier Gordon Campbell hasn’t done enough to pressure Harper into honouring the five-year commitment.

The vice-chairwoman of B.C.’s Provincial Child Care Council has also resigned over the province’s lack of fight for the program. Heather Northrup, appointed to the council by both NDP and Liberal governments, said other premiers publicly pressured Harper to live up to the five-year deal.

“I was quite discouraged when I didn’t hear British Columbia as one of those voices,” Northrup said. “Having worked so hard on the Provincial Child Care Council and seeing the B.C. and Canadian governments sign an agreement last September, providing B.C.’s families with $633 million, I couldn’t reconcile the two. And at the end of the day I needed to resign.”

Reid dismissed the resignation, saying Northrup’s term was almost up anyway. …James said Campbell didn’t show appropriate leadership on the issue.

“We should have heard him speaking out last week to say child care was a priority. We certainly should have heard him making statements after the prime minister announced on the day he was sworn in that he was cancelling the agreement. All children and families got from this premier was silence.”

The five-year deal would have been a great start at creating a long-term sustainable child care system, Northrup said. In Vancouver, she said some day-care centres have waiting lists of 1,500 children.

The promised $1,200 a year to parents from Harper won’t go far, Northrup said, when day care rates for toddlers can hit $1,100 a month.

DEBATES OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
Afternoon Sitting – EXCERPTS

Clare Trevena

…. I know that the government keeps talking about child care subsidies, but child care subsidies don’t create the spaces that are needed, the spaces that are desperately wanted and that should be part of our social infrastructure.

Decent wages for early childhood educators would create those spaces. You pay enough to employ people so that people stay at work, come back to the profession, continue to work. You create the spaces because for every early childhood educator that’s working, you have either four or eight children who have a place in a child care centre….

This would be a stimulus. This would be a worthwhile use of a deficit — to invest in child care. Because if you start investing in child care, you’re investing in business and investing in the future….

The B.C. Chamber of Commerce has asked for it. The B.C. board of trade has asked for it. They’re all advocating child care. ….

It would have helped the parents. It would have helped businesses. It would have helped nurses, people in retail, ferry workers. It would have helped across the board. It’s an investment in our economy today, and it’s an investment in our future. Child care provides not only assistance to families today, but it is creating a nurturing environment for our citizens of tomorrow, the people who will be responsible for our province in the years to come.

Meanwhile we do have parents who are tearing their hair out because of the government’s inaction on all-day kindergarten, who are now still looking for child care. Other parents who have children in the school system now are very fearful because they read between the lines of this budget.

They know that it’s going to mean cuts. It’s going to mean cuts in education, which is already overstretched because of the per-pupil funding formula. Even by increasing the amount per pupil, it’s not going to balance the inequities in our small communities.

Linda Reid

Supporting safe, affordable child care is a priority for this government. …knowing that their little ones are well cared for. ….

….Of course, the story is not just about the number of spaces, but it is about how child care has changed in the last few years…. Child care has no one-size-fits-all solution. … we’ve taken measures to increase choice and flexibility.

…. We have also created more than 1,000 spaces in family child care settings, ….You think about that, particularly around special needs youngsters.

Oftentimes you’re going to have, as an example, a youngster with Down syndrome. That family may believe and it may well be in that child’s best interests to be in a setting of five or seven children, rather than in a setting of 20 or 24 or 16 children. … family choice is something we take into consideration ….

…co-located integrated service that make wonderful sense for communities. … joint ventures with the Ministry of Education to put more than 500 new licensed spaces in public and independent schools during the ’08-09 school year

…. Here in British Columbia we are guided by five principles that convey our vision for child care….

The first is accessibility: increasing the number of child care spaces ….

The second is quality: to create safe, stimulating environments that support the emotional, social, cognitive and physical skills ….

The third principle is human resource development: supporting recruitment and retention of high-quality care providers and supporting their professional development opportunities.

… Co-locating services benefits families and builds on the ideas that community takes many forms …

The fifth principle, and one that is top of mind in these times of fiscal restraint, is sustainability. ….

HANSARD BLUES [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT]

Monday, March 2, 2009
Oral Questions
www.leg.bc.ca/hansard/38th5th/H90302y.htm
CHILD CARE SPACES IN WHISTLER

C. Trevena: The Teddy Bear Daycare in Whistler is closing at the end of May, and the operators have told parents in a letter that it’s because “the day care space will not be available during the 2010 Olympic period.”

Last spring when the issue of child care in Whistler was raised in this House, the minister of state advised parents to go to another centre, which is about 20 kilometres away. I’d like to advise the minister that that centre is closing, and the centre in Whistler is closing, and there is nothing available for parents in Whistler or the surrounding areas. I’d like to ask if the minister of state can give some advice to working parents in Whistler on what they should do about their child care.

Hon. L. Reid: I thank the member opposite for her question. This government continues to oversee the largest child care budget ever — an enormous sum of money. We continue to work with the individuals in Whistler, and I, in fact, have visited there many times in terms of addressing the recruitment issues, the retention issues, the real estate issues. We’ll continue to work with them, because our challenge is to continue to provide day care services across British Columbia, and they continue to be in regular contact with our offices.

C. Trevena: To the minister of state. I’m very intrigued that she’s carrying on talking to the various communities in Whistler, because since she started talking we’ve lost 46 spaces in the community, and we don’t actually have any space for parents who are looking for child care.

The operators of the Teddy Bear Daycare are a major company. They’re Whistler Blackcomb, which is part of the Intrawest group, and that company recognizes that child care is important for the community and for a successful business.

In the letter to parents which was informing them of the closure, it actually says: “We realize that quality child care is essential to the success of the community.” Whistler Blackcomb recognizes it. B.C. Chamber of Commerce recognizes it. The board of trade recognizes it. But seriously, I think the minister is paying lip service to it.

I’d like to ask the minister: if the Olympics is supposed to attract people to British Columbia, what message is being given to families? The fact that these child care spaces are closing as we approach the Olympics — is this the minister’s legacy for the Olympics, for the working families in Whistler?

Hon. L. Reid: Absolutely, this government understands the importance of building child care space, which is why we’ve built 6,000 new child care spaces across British Columbia. We have invested $34 million in capital construction, and we continue to provide subsidies to 90,000 licensed child care spaces. That is double what it was when we came to government.

—–

Oral Questions
WEDNESDAY, March 4, 2009
www.leg.bc.ca/hansard/38th5th/H90304y.htm
CHILD CARE SPACES IN WHISTLER AREA

C. Trevena: On Monday the Minister of State for Childcare was unable to offer any assurances to families in Whistler who need child care spaces. Last Friday Spring Creek closed its doors with 22 spaces for three-to-five-year-olds gone, and 20 spaces for infants and toddlers have also gone. In May we hear that the Teddy Bear Daycare is closing its doors, so losing another 16 spaces.

The latter is closing because of the Olympics and the former because they simply can’t get the staff. The wait-list is closed at the only other child care centre in town, the Whistler Children’s Centre, and there are 96 families waiting for child care there.

I’d like to ask the Minister of State for Childcare: what’s she going to do about this?

Hon. L. Reid: I can tell the members that we continue to work with both of those centres, and certainly some of them have some credentialing issues — no question. Oftentimes the training is undertaken in jurisdictions outside of British Columbia, but our staff and in the early childhood education registry are fast-tracking those applications as they come forward.

We are working with the centres in terms of providing additional space, and indeed, we have a centre today that has space. We have a centre today that has some additional staff. We’re going to do our very best to pull those together to continue to deliver child care services.

Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.

C. Trevena: It’s very interesting that the minister says that she is working with these centres. She was working with them last summer when we first started asking these questions — last spring. Since then we’ve got two gone and about 46 spaces gone. I’m a bit concerned about how the working is going to continue.

The minister really seems to fail to recognize the crisis. There is nothing in Whistler. There is almost nothing in Pemberton. In Squamish…. Yes, they got a new centre. In 2007 they were able to open their doors, but they didn’t get the funding to create the spaces. So they have a centre there with 20 spaces, eight of which can’t be opened because they can’t get the staff — to hire them. [

So I would like for the minister to actually understand the reality and explain to the people of Whistler how they are going to ensure that those 96 families — plus the other 40 or so who have extra children who can’t find space — how those people are going to find child care in the next two months.

plus the other 40 or so who have extra children who can’t find space, how those people are going to find child care in the next two months.

Hon. L. Reid: We continue to provide subsidies for 25,000 to 27,000 children each month to attend child care. We continue to open child care spaces across British Columbia — 6,000 new spaces. We, in fact, have doubled the number of child care spaces from 45,000 to 90,000 that we subsidize.

Are we making progress in child care as we go forward? Absolutely, we are. Will we continue to work with the centres in Whistler? Yes. Is Whistler a unique situation? Yes. One of the individuals has absolutely indicated that enrolment is actually going down in one of those centres because those children are not attending today because they’re enrolled in ski programs. So there are unique facets to this discussion that I would be happy to brief the member opposite on.

Dear Premier Campbell,

I am writing to express my concern about your offices present apparent lack of awareness towards the December 2008 UNICEF report which was mailed to you on December 10th, 2008 from Toronto.

I phoned your office seeking your response to this Innocente Report Card which is designed to monitor and compare the performance of the O.E.C.D. countries in securing the rights of their children.

It states that today’s rising generation is the first in which a majority are spending a large part of early childhood in some form of out of home care. It states the latest in neuroscientific research which demonstrates that loving, stable, secure and stimulating relationships during the early years are critical to all aspects of child development. It states that a countries response to this transition will represent an advance or a set back for today’s children and tomorrows world.

I have spoken with the Vancouver and Toronto UNICEF offices. I have been assured that without a doubt you along with 640 other leaders across the country received the shocking report.

A cover letter was attached from Nigel Fisher, the President and C.E.O. of UNICEF Canada. I have called the Toronto office again and I have been assured by Saadya Hadani that another copy of the report, has been sent to you on February 11th, 2009.

You shall agree that this matter needs attention. I shall also be writing to be Federal Government on the matter. Never the less we at the community level cannot wait on Ottawa; action is needed now to put in place a Province wide child care system which will reach the Benchmarks which we presently fail so miserably in, and which will secure quality care and education which is the entitlement of all young children re: the Rights of the Child.

I look forward to your response at your earliest convenience.

Yours truly,
Mary Dolan

cc: Minister of State for Child Care, Linda Reid; UNICEF Office Toronto, Saadya Hamdani;
Minister of Child and Family Development, Tom Christensen; B.C. Rep for Children and Youth, Mary Ellen Turpell Lafond ; Leader of the Opposition, Carole James, N.D.P; Child Care Critic for the Opposition, Claire Trevena, M.L.A;  [and several others]

Rabble

BY Marc Lee, a senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) BC office and David Macdonald, CCPA Alternative Federal Budget.

…. When the Prime Minister and his minority government come out of hiding to face the people, and his political opposition, they face a test of historic proportions.

Their task is to make right what they failed to do last fall: Bring in a stimulus budget that creates jobs, invests in strategic long-term initiatives and helps those who need it most.

But will Tuesday’s budget [Jan 27, 2009] meet the challenge that confronts us? Or will the opposition parties be justified in rejecting it?

We lay out five tests for Tuesday’s budget, to help Canadians and our politicians make a choice that plants the seed for a strong, prosperous and greener Canada.

Tuesday’s budget needs to do these five things:

1. Budget 2009 should help the hundreds of thousands of newly unemployed Canadians by increasing Employment Insurance (EI) benefits from 55 per cent to 60 per cent of insured earnings and extending the period for receiving those benefits to 50 weeks.

2. Budget 2009 should support the hardest hit Canadians, such as unemployed, low-income Canadians, and hard hit communities by making a commitment to reduce poverty in Canada by 25 per cent in the next five years.

3. Budget 2009 should implement an ambitious social, physical and green public infrastructure program — a measure that could create hundreds of thousands of new jobs just when we need them.

4. Budget 2009 should support key value-added sectors with restructuring criteria to ensure they become green and sustainable. It’s about keeping the lights on in key sectors in the short term, but re-orienting those sectors so they can come out stronger and more responsive to the demands of the day in the long term.

5. Finally, Budget 2009 should emphasize spending over tax cuts.

There is growing consensus on a number of these tests.

EI is the federal government’s most important automatic stabilizer and most agree it has been greatly weakened and must be reinforced to face rising unemployment.

Most agree on infrastructure investment as a good means of stimulating the economy and creating jobs. But the kind of infrastructure we invest in and the type of jobs we create are important to consider.

…. On the infrastructure file, this means major investments in green projects — public transit, renewable energy — that reduce Canada’s carbon footprint and plant the seeds for a sustainable economy.

However, infrastructure isn’t just about roads and bridges: it’s also about investing in social infrastructure — health care, post-secondary education, child care, and social housing — to ensure balanced job creation between male- and female-dominated professions and the expansion of public programs to all Canadians.

The Prime Minister has talked about Canada’s middle class, and how they need tax cuts in the upcoming stimulus budget. But we will get better bang for the buck if we deliver money into the hands of those who will spend it right away, particularly those with lower incomes.

The majority of Canadians, especially the middle class, benefit more from public services such as good education, health care, and affordable child care than they have from years of federal tax cuts. That’s where the investments need to be in Budget 2009….

They need to face reality: research shows that tax cuts end up in savings or get used to pay down household debt. Those dollars don’t end up in the economy where they are desperately needed….

• CCCABC
• BCGEU
• BC Recreation and Parks Association
• ECEBC
• First Call
• Grassroots Women
• Westcoast Child Care Resource Centre

Canadian Labour Congress

National Report Cards show government results fall short of promises

OTTAWA, ONTARIO – The Canadian Labour Congress gave the federal government a failing grade today for its lack of action on providing working parents with more access to affordable, quality child care spaces.

At a news conference on Parliament Hill, Barbara Byers, executive vice-president of the Canadian Labour Congress, released a full set of report cards, grading the provinces and the federal government on their overall performance when it comes to delivering the child care services working families need.

Based on public data provided by or through governments, the report cards measure progress (or lack thereof) in three areas: 1) affordability, measured by what it costs parents to access child care services, 2) quality, measured by the salaries paid to child care staff, and 3) accessibility, measured by the creation of new public child care spaces.

Manitoba scored the highest mark, with a grade of B+ while the lowest mark, a D-, was awarded to British Columbia. The federal government, meanwhile, was given an “incomplete” grade.

“They aren’t getting the job done for working parents. Fees are going up. New spaces are being created at a much slower pace than before. Wages for child care workers continue to range from fair to far too low. Provincial governments could do so much more if the federal government was there with stable, predictable funding and support,” says Byers.

“It’s an undeniable fact: the vast majority of today’s Canadian moms are working moms. More than 65% of women with children under three years old work outside the home. Meanwhile, 75% of women with pre-school kids (between three and five years old) are in the paid workforce.

Yet, despite this clear demand for services, says Byers, only 16% of children in Canada had access to a regulated child care space in 2004. Since the Conservatives, led by Stephen Harper, took power in 2006, things haven’t improved. Working women continue to face a surplus of promises and a shortage of results.”

Quebec was not included in the Canadian Labour Congress survey because of that province’s advanced child care and early learning services. With just 22% of Canada’s children, Quebec accounts for 45% of the country’s total regulated child care spaces and 78% of the total increase in public funding since 2001. Including it in the survey would be like comparing scrambled eggs to quiche.

Meanwhile, events are planned across the country in the coming days at the provincial level by parents and child care activists to review how their respective province or territory scored and how to work at improving grades.

The report cards are part of the Canadian Labour Congress “Equality! Once and for All!” campaign. For more information about this important campaign for women’s economic equality, or to see the full set of report cards, visit the web site www.onceandforall.ca.

The Canadian Labour Congress, the national voice of the labour movement, represents 3.2 million Canadian workers. The CLC brings together Canada’s national and international unions along with the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 130 district labour councils.

TUESDAY, MAY 20, 2008, Afternoon Sitting
COWICHAN VALLEY SCHOOLS AND CHILD CARE SPACES
View online

[DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]

J. Horgan: My question is to the Minister of Education. She will know that on February 1, the Cowichan school district started a process to close four schools. Four months have gone by, and in that time she has received a report from her special adviser speaking to the need for those four schools. But more importantly, today parents are not just looking for spaces for their children to go to school; they’re looking for spaces for child care. With the closure of those four schools, 260 spaces will be lost.

It’s a very simple question to the Minister of Education. Will she stand in this place today and assure that those spaces will remain for child care in September?

Hon. S. Bond: Well, the member opposite is correct. In fact, this government did respond. We sent a special adviser to do work in the Cowichan school district, because we in fact expressed concerns, as well, about schools that are important — schools that parents were very concerned about. The member opposite knows that I had met with a number of parent groups about the Cowichan school district.

The report has been received. We will be presenting that report to the board of education. The recommendations are significant. They certainly point to some significant concerns for me as Minister of Education, but that report will be passed on to the board of education for their review and then made public.

J. Horgan: I know the parents in the Cowichan Valley will be waiting anxiously for Monday night with respect to the school spaces, but this is a particular question about child care. It’s a crisis in the valley. There are not enough spaces. If these schools go down, 240 child care spaces at a minimum — up to 260 — will be lost. Can the minister confirm that the report that will be issued by the board from the special adviser will include those child care spaces? [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]

Hon. S. Bond: I’m sure the member opposite would want, first of all, to allow the board of education to see the report that’s been prepared. It will be made public as quickly as possible after that. We had an excellent special adviser that did the work and looked at the issue of school use. One of the important considerations was the capital plan or lack thereof in this particular school district. All of those issues have been considered. There are a series of recommendations. The board will see the report, and it will be made public.

D. Routley: As a former trustee I can tell the minister that there is a capital plan that keeps coming up every year, and that is to close more of our neighbourhood schools due to funding shortages brought on by that minister. She is imposing growing deficits in our community.

We are seeing real people, real families, real children losing their child care spaces, real workers who can’t take jobs because of it, and real businesses who suffer. Schools in our district are at capacity if you consider school-age children and child care spaces. The minister said she’ll find spaces for those displaced students, but there’s no such help for the parents who will lose their child care space.

This minister should stop spewing out numbers and face the real truth. Families are suffering by her policies. Will she finally coordinate her efforts with the Minister of State for Childcare and ensure that those spaces remain open for the people of the Cowichan Valley and their children?

Hon. S. Bond: We recognize the concerns that parents in the Cowichan school district have expressed. The member opposite knows full well that a very, very capable special adviser was placed to do an incredibly good job of looking at all of the issues, which includes the necessity for child care spaces.

But one thing we are going to do on this side of the House is talk about numbers. We’re going to talk about the fact that the Cowichan school district received a funding increase of $3.7 million since 2001-2002 at a time when they have lost almost 1,400 students. We’ve put record levels of funding into public education, and we’re going to continue to do that on this side of the House.

CHILD CARE SPACES IN B.C.

C. Trevena: The minister talks about numbers, but I think we are talking about real people here. We’re talking about an operating room nurse who will lose child care. We’re talking about people who are invested in the community. We’re talking about a mom who wants to go back to school, who won’t be able to go back to school because of the loss of child care spaces.

This isn’t just an issue of the Cowichan Valley; it is an issue of the whole province. Everywhere people are scrambling. In the Minister of State for Childcare’s own riding there are 80 people who turned up for an open house trying to find a child care space and basically begging providers for space.

My question is for the Minister of State for Childcare. There is a big problem in this province with child care. There is a crisis. When will she recognize that, and when will she actually do something about it — not just talk about new spaces being created but create real spaces for real parents who have real problems getting child care?

Hon. L. Reid: So $300 million of investment, and I’m happy to say that I’ve just canvassed these issues with the critic not so long ago, so she knows of what she speaks in terms of attempting not, frankly, to be straightforward with the public in the province of British Columbia. She knows…

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Hon. L. Reid: …that she hasn’t been straightforward, and she knows, quite honestly, that 2,200 spaces have been created and that, frankly, our goal was 2,000 spaces. We have exceeded by 200 spaces the number of child care spaces created in British Columbia.

Dollars have gone out for subsidy. Dollars have gone out for child care operating funding. Dollars have been put in place for recruitment and retention of staff. Everything that the sector has asked for has been delivered, and indeed, that….

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Minister, partway through your statement you used the word “straightforward,” referring to the member from the other side. Would you withdraw that statement, please.

Hon. L. Reid: If I offended, I withdraw.

[End of question period.] [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]

CHILD CARE SPACES IN B.C.
THURSDAY, MAY 22, 2008
Afternoon Sitting
Volume 34, Number 3

C. Trevena: Teddy Bear Daycare in Whistler is due to close. Apparently, it’s not an appropriate use of the space with the Olympics coming.

But when the parents turned to the Minister of State for Childcare for help, she wrote them with some alternatives: child care in Squamish, which is a 54-kilometre one-way trip for parents and their children; child care in Pemberton, where one centre is full and the other is closing; or child care in Spring Creek, which is only 40 kilometres a day but already close to capacity.

It’s not surprising that the parents were flabbergasted and described the minister’s response as ridiculous. I’d like the Minister of State for Childcare to explain to those parents, who are desperately needing child care, what they’re supposed to do.

Hon. L. Reid: It is about the spaces in British Columbia. I am more than happy to put on the record yet again that since we came to government, we’ve created 5,500 additional child care spaces in the province of British Columbia.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker: Members.

Hon. L. Reid: We have in fact been the only government who’s lifted the rates for out-of-school care, the only government who has in fact looked at extending the subsidy for children into the end of their sixth year.

When the community has asked for the deliverables, we have in fact responded.

Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.

C. Trevena: Yes, the minister of state has responded, but the minister of state has given answers that provide no solution for parents either in Whistler or anywhere in the province. Parents are desperate.

The Minister of State for Childcare said in this House a couple of days ago: “Everything the sector has asked for has been delivered.” I have to say that parents say she’s wrong, providers say she’s wrong, early childhood educators say she’s wrong, chambers of commerce say she’s wrong, and businesses say she’s wrong.

I’d like the minister to tell those thousands of people how she’s planning to prove herself right.

Hon. L. Reid: I’m always delighted to talk about child care. We in fact have new partners in child care delivery that this province has never had in the past. We are building child care today with the B.C. housing association. We have in fact delivered child care where people live, closest to home. We have worked with individuals as partners, indeed, in terms of providing child care closest to where people work.

There are opportunities today to go forward. There are opportunities for us to continue to work closely with those who believe in the delivery of child care. I welcome that opportunity.

Six controversial decisions that failed to deliver on Canada’s “promise of equality” and have been rewritten by the Women’s Court of Canada.

“SYMES V. CANADA

In this case, the Supreme Court of Canada disallowed Ms. Symes, a self-employed woman, from claiming her childcare expenses as a business deduction for income tax purposes. This decision was in accordance with traditional tax analysis, which characterizes childcare expenses as personal expenses.

The Women’s Court takes a different view. Tax policy must take account of background social context. That context shows that women have suffered, and continue to suffer, social and economic inequities in their paid and unpaid work. The traditional tax treatment of childcare expenses is based on outdated cultural norms that privilege a conception of working life adapted to the needs of businessmen.

The Women’s Court reverses the decision of the Supreme Court and holds that businesspeople who legitimately incur childcare expenses for the purpose of gaining or producing income from business must not be deprived of the benefit of a business deduction for their expenses.

Key to this case is our understanding of substantive equality as a fundamental constitutional principle that requires recognition of the inherent moral worth of each individual and acknowledgment that full realization of this worth cannot be achieved through a simple uniform application of rules. This perspective must inform judicial review of discretionary governmental decisions and statutory interpretation.

Therefore, the Women’s Court finds that the government has a duty not only to refrain from discrimination but also to correct existing disadvantages through the formulation of appropriate law and policy.

Courts, in turn, must ensure that governments are fulfilling their obligations by doing all that is “practically possible” to promote substantive equality. Judgments that account for substantive equality considerations must, by definition, take into account the full context surrounding the law or policy in question. “

[NOTE — Background — “Lawyer Melina Buckley rewrote the 1993 Symes v. Canada decision, a case she knew firsthand and that had troubled her because of the decision’s “lack of acknowledgement of the public good of caring for children.” Essentially, the Supreme Court ruled against allowing the deduction of child care costs as business expenses (like, say, golf club memberships). In her Women’s Court alternative decision — which she says “provided me with an opportunity to explore my initial sense of outrage … in a concrete, disciplined fashion” — Buckley writes that child care expenses must be recognized in the larger context as both gendered and a social responsibility.”]

The Women’s Court of Canada

Gwen Brodsky; Melina Buckley; Marie Chen; Rachel Cox; Shelagh Day;  Mary Eberts; Avvy Go; Jennifer Koshan; Sonia Lawrence; Diana Majury; Sharon McIvor; Teressa Nahanee; Margaret Parsons; Dianne Pothier; Denise Réaume; Kate Stephenson; and Margot Young.

Source:
Toronto Star article
More Background — Ottawa Citizen article

EXCERPTS

“The Women’s Court is a group of Canadian lawyers, law professors and activists who have decided it’s time to get serious about women’s equality.”

“Sure, most civilized Canadians have a fundamental philosophical belief in gender equality (even if old-school male-chauvinist sexism seems, depressingly, to be on the rise again in our popular culture. And that’s another debate). But gender equality is not a fact in Canada’s courts, and the repercussions of that implicit inequality are like shock waves in the daily lives of millions of Canadian women.”

“It’s rewritten six key decisions handed down by the Supreme Court of Canada — decisions with powerful impact, in different ways, on the lives of women. It’s looked carefully at the Supreme Court’s ‘because I said so,’ and, in scrupulous legal detail, asked, ‘But why?'”

BCGEU
Campbell’s carbon tax not revenue neutral for working, low income people
EXCERPT
Feb 19 ’08

B.C.’s new carbon tax is being implemented unfairly, says the B.C. Government and Service Employees Union, and will mean that families and low income earners will pay more than their fair share of the costs when the tax on energy consumption is fully implemented in four years time.

….On other key issues, “aside from the green budget focus,” says Heyman, “the finance minister had only hot air or empty platitudes to deal with British Columbians’ other priorities.”…

Heyman was also disappointed that there is no provincial funding for a new child care system, to help B.C. families deal with the long waitlists, high parent fees, and alarming shortage of qualified staff.

Meanwhile, on the social services front, Heyman says new money allocated in the budget still doesn’t make up for the deep cuts implemented during the Campbell government’s first term. …

BCTF
Campbell budget short-changes kids again
EXCERPT
Feb 19, 2008

The Campbell government has once again brought down a budget that totally fails to deliver to K–12 education….

There is no new funding for K–12 despite many new requirements. There is nothing for new requirements for physical education, new English curriculum, or new requirements for carbon neutrality for school districts. The projected budget has not provided a single dollar for these.

The budget provides no money for lowering class sizes to those promised in Bill 33.  It provides no money for students with special needs and the specialist teachers to support them.  It provides no money for teacher-librarians, despite claiming that improved literacy is a major goal of government.

“It’s as if the premier has completely forgotten that his government is responsible for education funding in this province,” said the BCTF president….

CUPE BC
Budget ‘green’ spin leaves public services in the cold
EXCERPT
February 19, 2008

Carbon tax hype draws attention away from funding needs for women, children, students

VICTORIA—The provincial budget’s overwhelming focus on ‘green’ initiatives such as the new carbon tax is drawing attention away from critical funding shortages for K-12 and post-secondary education, community services, childcare, and housing, the Canadian Union of Public Employees said today.

“Our public services are becoming unsustainable. This budget does nothing to retain services for women, children, students and institutions,” said CUPE BC secretary-treasurer Mark Hancock.

…. Hancock noted that the province is committed to capital funding of for-profit childcare spaces, which will only lead to cuts in pay for childcare workers. “The only money for childcare is coming from the federal government, and it does nothing to address the recruitment and retention problems in child care, because childcare workers don’t get paid enough,” he said. ….“This budget just continues the burden on people in this province who need those services. With the kind of surpluses we have, surely now is the time to undo some of the damage the Campbell government did in its first term.”

BCGEU

The federal NDP’s Early Learning and Child Care Act passed second reading in the House of Commons by a vote of 144 to 116, on November 21.

Bill C303 will now go to committee review before being returned to Parliament for a third vote, possibly in February 2008.

The dedicated efforts of BCGEU members and allied child care supporters are paying off. The letters, emails, phone calls, and visits from citizens to their Members of Parliament — asking them to support this bill, have clearly been effective.

“Families are desperate for a quality public child care system that is affordable and accessible,” says BCGEU President George Heyman.

“Bill C303 offers the framework to build a universal system of child care, similar to the way health care is delivered in our country.”

Bill C303 will ensure accountability, quality, universality, and accessibility in child care. It will establish each of these as an official condition that provinces and territories must meet before any money can be transferred from the federal government for child care purposes.

This bill also helps protect non-profit delivery of child care. Any agency, including a for-profit agency, that currently provides early learning or child care services will continue to be eligible for funding. But no new for-profit agencies will be eligible for public funding under Bill C303.

“I commend everyone who has raised their voice through the national Code Blue and BC Child Care – Let’s Make It Happen! campaigns thus far,” says Heyman.

BCGEU members are urged to continue to let their elected representatives know that building an affordable, accessible, quality public child care system is a key priority for working families. If it clears third reading, the legislation must still be approved by Senate and proclaimed into law.

——

Hansard from House of Commons
Nov 20, 2007
Early Learning and Child Care Act – EXCERPTS [view full document]

The House proceeded to the consideration of 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, as reported, with amendment, from the committee.

Ms. Denise Savoie (Victoria, NDP)
     moved that the bill, as amended, be concurred in.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Andrew Scheer):
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

Some hon. members: Agreed.

(Motion agreed to)

Ms. Denise Savoie
moved that the bill be read the third time and passed.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Andrew Scheer):

Because there was so much noise and there were people standing in the House, it was difficult for me to hear the members from the other end, so in fairness to all members and to ensure that those members have a voice when they desire to do so, I will call for the yeas and nays again and we are going to proceed from there.

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

Some hon. members: Agreed.

Some hon. members: No.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Andrew Scheer): All those in favour of the motion will please say yea.

Some hon. members: Yea.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Andrew Scheer): All those opposed will please say nay.

Some hon. members: Nay.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Andrew Scheer): In my opinion the yeas have it.….

NOVEMBER 21 continued

Child Care

Ms. Denise Savoie (Victoria, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative child care policy has failed working families. The Prime Minister talks about giving parents choice, but tens of thousands of parents are stuck on long wait lists. They watch fees rise out of reach or their local day care centres close because the centres cannot find or afford qualified staff. What choice do these parents have?

Working parents know the importance of quality child care for the healthy development of their children. What about their choice?

Today’s vote on my Bill C-303 is crucial. The bill would guarantee affordable, high quality early learning and child care that working families need and want and that Conservatives could not take away.

I ask all Canadians to join me in telling the Conservative government to stop restricting parents’ choices and standing in the way of our children’s futures.

The House resumed from November 20, consideration of the motion that 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, as amended, be concurred in at report stage.

YEAS

Members

Alghabra; Angus; Asselin; Atamanenko; Bachand; Bagnell; Bains; Barbot;;Barnes; Beaumier; Bélanger; Bell (Vancouver Island North); Bell (North Vancouver); Bellavance; Bennett; Bevilacqua; Bevington; Bigras; Black; Blais; Bonin; Bonsant; Boshcoff; Bouchard; Brison; Brown (Oakville); Brunelle; Byrne; Cannis; Cardin; Carrier; Chan; Charlton; Chow ;Christopherson; Coderre; Comartin; Crête; Crowder; Cullen (Skeena—Bulkley Valley); Cuzner; D’Amours; Davies; DeBellefeuille; Demers; Deschamps; Dewar; Dhaliwal; Dhalla;Dryden; Duceppe; Eyking; Faille; Gagnon; Gaudet; Godfrey; Godin; Gravel; Guarnieri; Guay;Guimond; Holland; Hubbard; Jennings; Julian; Kadis; Karetak-Lindell; Karygiannis; Keeper; Kotto; Laforest; Laframboise; Lalonde; Lavallée; Layton; Lee; Lemay; Lessard; Lévesque; Lussier; Malhi ;Malo; Maloney; Marleau; Marston; Martin (Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca); Martin; (Winnipeg Centre); Martin (Sault Ste. Marie); Masse; Mathyssen; Matthews; McGuinty; McGuire; McKay (Scarborough—Guildwood); McTeague; Ménard (Hochelaga); Ménard (Marc-Aurèle-Fortin); Minna; Murphy (Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe); Murphy (Charlottetown); Nash; Neville; Ouellet; Pacetti; Paquette; Patry; Pearson; Perron; Picard; Plamondon; Priddy; Ratansi ;Regan; Rodriguez; Rota; Roy; Savage; Savoie; Scott; Siksay; Silva; Simard; Simms;  St-Cyr;  St-Hilaire;  St. Amand; St. Denis; Szabo; Telegdi; Temelkovski; Thi Lac; Thibault (Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques); Thibault (West Nova); Tonks; Valley; Vincent ;Wasylycia-Leis; Wrzesnewskyj.

Total: — 138

NAYS

Members

Abbott Ablonczy Albrecht Allen Ambrose Anders Anderson Arthur Baird Batters Bezan Blackburn Blaney Breitkreuz Brown (Leeds—Grenville) Brown (Barrie) Bruinooge Calkins Cannan (Kelowna—Lake Country) Cannon (Pontiac) Carrie Casson Chong Clement Comuzzi Cummins Davidson Day Del Mastro Devolin Doyle Dykstra Emerson Epp Fast Finley Fitzpatrick Flaherty Fletcher Galipeau Gallant Goldring Goodyear Gourde Grewal Hanger Harris Harvey Hawn Hearn Hiebert Hill Hinton Jean Kamp (Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission) Kenney (Calgary Southeast) Komarnicki Kramp (Prince Edward—Hastings) Lake Lauzon Lebel Lemieux Lukiwski Lunn Lunney MacKenzie Manning Mayes Menzies Merrifield Miller Mills Moore (Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam) Nicholson Norlock O’Connor Obhrai Pallister Paradis Petit Poilievre Preston Rajotte Reid Richardson Scheer Schellenberger Shipley Skelton Smith Solberg Sorenson Stanton Storseth Strahl Sweet Thompson (New Brunswick Southwest) Thompson (Wild Rose) Tilson Toews Trost Tweed Van Kesteren Van Loan Vellacott Verner Wallace Warawa Warkentin Watson Williams Yelich

Total: — 112

The Speaker:

I declare the motion carried.

Government news release

Selected highlights include:
‘Family Child Care’ – no longer required to hold two spaces for school-age children, can now care for a maximum of seven children, newborn to five years.

Of the seven:

1. no more than three children may be younger than 48 months (4 years) and only one of those under 12 months.
2. If there are no children under 12 months, the licensee may care for up to four children younger than 48 months. No more than two of those children may be younger than 24 months (2 years).

‘In-Home Multi-Age Child Care’ – new licensing category raises the number of children permitted in in-home child care from seven to eight children.

1. no more than three children may be under 36 months, and only one of those may be under 12 months.
2. caregiver under this category must be a licensed early childhood educator (ECE) and have appropriate indoor and outdoor play space.

‘Group Setting Multi-Age Child Care’ – new category requires an ECE-licensed staff to child ratio of 1:8.
– no more than three in eight children may be younger than 36 months and only one may be younger that 12 months. Indoor and outdoor space requirements apply.

‘Occasional Child Care’ – category replaces Emergency Care, Child Minding, and Occasional Care at Ski Hill or Resort categories. Care to be provided to children (aged over 18 months) on a short term or occasional basis for up to 40 hours per calendar month.

‘Enhanced quality of care for children’ – early childhood educators now required o complete 40 hours of professional development before five-year certificate is renewed. [Previously, ECE’s were required to complete 12 hours of professional development over five years.]

Responses:

The delusions of equality
Globe and Mail
Nov 2, 2007
RICK SALUTIN

…. Take this week’s federal mini-budget. It’s all about tax cuts and nothing else. If you’ve got no money, tax cuts won’t help you. If you’ve got lots, they will. For the diminishing middle, they won’t help nearly as much as actual items that can be provided only by social investment: schools, child care, transportation, clean air etc. It’s all about those who have, and those who don’t. Have wealth and have power….

—–

CCPA: tax cuts are not the solution
Canadians are concerned about growing inequality and they want their government to do something about it
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
November 1, 2007

The radical tax cut and debt repayment plan announced in this week’s Economic Statement does nothing to address the serious problems facing the country, the Alternative Federal Budget coalition says.

“Tax cuts will not do anything to help skyrocketing drug costs, our crumbling municipal infrastructure, nor provide clean drinking water on First Nations’ reserves. They will not create affordable childcare spaces, build affordable housing, lower tuition fees, nor reduce greenhouse gases,” says Bruce Campbell, Executive Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

Canadians are concerned about growing inequality and they want their government to do something about it. These tax cuts will do nothing to address the growing gap between the rich and the rest of us — in fact they will only make it worse.

“New research from Statistics Canada shows that tax cuts over the past ten years have overwhelmingly benefited only a very small proportion of the population at the top of the income scale. There is no reason to believe that this round of tax cuts will be any different,” says Marc Lee, Senior Economist with the CCPA.

“Blowing today’s surplus on tax cuts and debt repayment could easily turn future surpluses into deficits when the long-anticipated economic downturn arrives, setting the stage for further cuts to public services,” says Lee.

Tax cuts are close to the bottom of Canadians’ list of priorities when compared to education, health care and other public policy choices. The Alternative Federal Budget believes that surpluses should be invested in social and environmental programs and public services.

The main beneficiaries of the corporate tax cut are large financial institutions and the energy sector. These tax cuts do nothing substantive to address the current crisis in manufacturing.

To look at the Economic Statement, you’d never know that Canadian cities are in a state of financial crisis, because there’s nothing in it for them. You’d never know that there’s a consensus in this country that we have to start investing again in our public infrastructure, because there’s nothing in it to address the issue.

“You’d never know Canadians’ number one priority is action on climate change because the Federal Government hasn’t invested a dime in public transit or energy conservation,” says Hugh Mackenzie, Research Associate with the CCPA.

“Far from standing up for Canadians, this government is turning its back on them,” says Campbell.

—–

Georgetti on mini-budget: “The Government has abandoned working families”
Canadian Labour Congress
October 31, 2007

…. “When fully implemented, the proposed giveaway on corporate taxes would exceed the total resources needed to deliver on child care, on a national prescription drug program, on a commitment to upgrade transportation and urban infrastructure. Indeed, these would altogether require less than the current and projected surpluses,” explains Georgetti who adds: “Whose side are they on? That’s the question for working families.”

“Each time such measures are adopted, access to child care, education and training, prescription drugs or retirement security become incrementally more difficult for working families.”

—–

Business applauds tax cuts; others say mini-budget ignores them
CBC.CA News
October 31, 2007

Business groups generally gave a “thumbs up” to the tax cuts spelled out in the Conservatives’ economic update, saying they were long overdue. But big cities and aboriginal groups wondered why there was no money for them and unions said there was little for working families….

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities said the economic statement shows that the federal government “obviously has room to cut taxes” and apply the savings toward Canada’s cities. So it’s wondering why it didn’t.

“Even after all the debt payments and tax cuts announced today, the government will still have $26 billion more than it needs over the next five years,” said Gord Steeves, the federation’s president….

The Assembly of First Nations said the federal books show there’s plenty of money to allow Ottawa to work with First Nations to eradicate poverty.

“Due to inflation and population growth, First Nations are losing real purchasing power each year,” said AFN National Chief Phil Fontaine. “All of this happens in spite of Canada’s record surpluses.”

The Canadian Union of Public Employees said the extra tax cuts won’t help most Canadians.

“The finance minister is trying to pump up what soon could be a flagging economy with costly tax cuts,” said CUPE economist Toby Sanger. “It may help them to buy a spring election, but it will do little to improve the long-term health or productivity of the economy and could lead to deficits and deep cuts to public services in future years.”

“The government has abandoned working families,” said Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, who accused Ottawa of engaging in “trickle-down” economics.

“When fully implemented, the proposed giveaway on corporate taxes would exceed the total resources needed to deliver on child care, on a national prescription drug program, on a commitment to upgrade transportation and urban infrastructure,” he said….

First Call annual fundraising dinner

First Call’s fundraising dinner recognized community leaders who have “Stood Up” for children and youth, including the Child Care: Let’s Make it Happen Initiative – BC Government and Service Employees’ Union and the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC; and Mary Dolan of Growing Together Childcare in the Cowichan Valley.

Adrienne Montani (far left) & Michael Goldberg (far right) of First Call with representatives from CCCABC and the BCGEU, receiving the award for the Child Care: Let’s Make It Happen initiative.

Adrienne Montani (far left) and Michael Goldberg (far right) of First Call present an award to Mary Dolan (centre).