Chilliwack Times

Have you taken a look at the calendar lately? It’s just three weeks to go till B.C.’s first Family Day on Feb. 11.

That’s right: one whole glorious day as a paid statutory holiday to spend time with our families and friends-perhaps a jaunt up to the local mountains for a bit of skiing, or a visit to the aquarium will be in order.

Sounds lovely, doesn’t it? And it probably will be-for some people. Like those who work in a fulltime job who qualify for a paid statutory holiday-and those whose incomes allow them to take part in extracurriculars like skiing and local attractions.

But for the people juggling low-paying and part-time jobs, child care and the demands of every day life, Family Day in B.C. won’t be all that glorious.

With schools closed for the day, British Columbians who still have to go to work-like the many thousands employed in the service industry-will be scrambling to find child care.

We’re sure we’ll hear all about this great new addition to the provincial calendar in the lead-up to the election in May. It certainly sounds family-friendly and that seems to be a key theme for Christy Clark these days.

We have long advocated that B.C. follow the lead of other provinces in creating an additional statutory holiday during this winter period-so kudos to the Liberals for having done so. But it doesn’t alleviate our concerns about how families are truly faring in this province.

With so many challenges in funding for education, in the lack of access to quality child care, in services for children with developmental disabilities of all kinds, in job development, in health care access- just to name a few-it’s hard to get too excited about Family Day.

As much as we’ll enjoy the extra day off work, we’d prefer to have enough funding and attention to the critical issues facing our province to make every day a good day for families in B.C.