CUPE
It’s been more than a decade since the federal Liberal government promised a national child care program to help working parents and ensure quality care in children’s early years.
Since then, the only province to follow through and deliver a universal program has been Quebec. Currently, 40 per cent of the 600,000 regulated child care spaces in Canada are in Quebec.
But even those gains are in jeopardy. The Charest government has moved to increase the cost of Quebec’s $5-a-day child care program – the envy of child care activists across the country – to $7-a-day. And there are concerns the Liberals might move to further erode the program. This, activists say, would be a major setback for children and parents across the country.