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Child Care News on the signing of the federal provincial agreement
What did the advocates say?
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B.C. signs child-care deal with Ottawa
The Vancouver Sun/ Canadian Press
30 Sep 2005
By Steve Mertl and Darah Hansen
EXCERPT
Child care advocates, many of whom were present at Thursday's announcement, praised the prime minister for following through with an election promise to build up a national child-care program, but cautioned that safeguards must be put in place to ensure the province spends the federal dollars wisely.
"We're worried the devil is in the details," said Sharon Gregson, spokeswoman for the B.C. Coalition of Child Care Advocates.
Gregson said the B.C. Liberals have already failed to be publicly accountable for federal money targeted toward early childhood development in 2003-04. She said a report on just how that money was spent is already 11 months late.
"And when we see the details in the new agreement that refer to business opportunities as one of [the provincial government's] goals, it makes us wonder if this is going to be an investment in a child-care system, or is this going to somehow disappear into other projects," Gregson said.
Gregson said the coalition will continue to lobby for child-care dollars in B.C. to be tied to the creation of a more affordable system for all parents, not just the welfare-type subsidy system currently available. As well, the coalition wants an increase in wages for qualified child-care workers, and an expansion in the not-for-profit child-care sector.
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Province signs $633-million child-care deal with Ottawa
Penticton Herald / Canadian Press
30 Sep 2005
EXCERPT
VANCOUVER (CP) -- Comparing it to the creation of universal health care, Prime Minister Paul Martin added another building block to his dream of a national child-care program Thursday with the signing of an agreement with British Columbia. "Creating a national child-care system is a cornerstone of our commitment to Canadians," Martin told a room full of child-care advocates.
"Decades ago, it's important to understand, it was a similar series of such meetings that led to the creation of Medicare.
"In the same way, I believe the partnerships that we are forging now will lead us to a national program of early learning and child care and will make it a valued and vibrant part of our shared social foundation."
Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell said the province already spends $200 million a year on child care and early learning.
Campbell said the money -- $92 million this year, increasing to $152 million by the fifth year -- will make an additional 10,000 children eligible for child-care subsidies. Another 6,000 families will see an increase in their subsidies and child-care operators will see their funding rise by about one third, he said.
But while the agreements all contain accountability clauses, there are few strings on how the provinces can spend the money.
Only Manitoba's deal requires the federal money to be spent developing not-for-profit child care, said Susan Harney, chairwoman of the B.C. Coalition of Child Care Advocates. But her group supports a long-term transition to not-for-profit child care.
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CP Wire
29 Sep 2005
Section: National general news
BY STEVE MERTL
EXCERPTS
But while the agreements all contain accountability clauses there are few strings on how the provinces can spend the money.
Only Manitoba's deal requires the federal money to be spent developing not-for-profit child care, said Susan Harney, chairwoman of the B.C. Coalition of Child Care Advocates.
Harney, who operates a private child-care centre, said more than half the centres in B.C. are for-profit operations. But her group supports a long-term transition to not-for-profit child care.
"There is no way that funding could go only to the not-for-profit sector this minute in B.C.,'' she said. "But we believe in the coalition that there could be some kind of a grand-parenting clause to build a community-based system.''
Relying on for-profit operations is inherently unstable, said Harney, because the government would have no say if the private operator chooses to shut down.
It's very common, for instance, for a young mother to open a small day care while looking after her own kids, then quit once her children reach school age. The turnover rate in such home-operated centres is high, Harney said.
"So to be providing funding on an ongoing basis long into the future without any kind of a plan of how can we build this ... I think is short-sighted on the part of the provincial government,'' she said.
A recent study also concluded children do better developmentally in non-profit child-care centres.
Martin wouldn't be drawn into the debate.
"That really is within the scope of individual provinces,'' he said.
Harney also said the B.C. government must be held accountable for how it spends the money.
"We already know there's plans for early-literacy or early-learning centres,'' she said. "There's already pre-school and day care. They don't have to invent something else. They need to build on what's here.''
Critics point out the Canada Health Act gives Ottawa greater say on how federal money is spent.
"What seems to be happening with these deals is provinces have a very, very wide range of flexibility in how they decide to use the money,'' said Harney.
Martin suggested legislation isn't necessary. Ottawa's program lays out four principles: quality, universal inclusiveness, accessibility and developmentally centred – dubbed the QUAD.
"What we believe is the principles of the QUAD have got to be put into effect,'' he said. "And those are the principles upon which this agreement is based.''
There are licensed child-care spaces for about 10 to 12 per cent of B.C. kids who need it, said Harney. It's not clear how many additional spaces will be created from the new federal funds, she said.
"It will depend on how the province chooses to spend that money,'' she said.
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BC Child Care
Broadcast News
29 Sep 2005
VANCOUVER -- BC has signed on to a federal government child care agreement that will be worth 633 million dollars over the next five years.
Premier Gordon Campbell joined with Prime Minister Paul Martin and Social Development Minister Ken Dryden to announce the agreement in Vancouver today.
Martin says the surest measure of a forward-looking society is the effort it makes to help its youngest citizens.
Susan Harney of the BC Coalition of Child Care Advocates is pleased with the announcement, but wants to see how it will be spent.
She says the current plan won't build on community programs, which she calls short-sighted on the provincial government's part.
The province says it will release its plans for the funding by this January after consulting with those involved.
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Child-care deal official
JONATHAN WOODWARD
Globe and Mail
Sept 30, 2005
EXCERPT
… On Sept. 9, B.C. Minister of Children and Family Development Stan Hagen
announced $32-million of that spending: $19-million for subsidies to
parents, $7-million in operating grants and $6-million in capital funding
for regulated daycares to encourage the creation of additional spaces.
Sharon Gregson of the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C. said in an
interview that leftover money should stay in daycare and not be given to
preschools.
With the current scheme, for-profit daycares can access the money, opening
the door to make big-box daycare profitable, she said.
"We're worried that the devil's in the details," she said to Mr. Martin at a
media scrum after the press conference.
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell said he wasn't concerned about safeguarding
money for non-profit over for-profit care.
"We do have well-run daycares in the province . . . they have been
under-funded in the past, and this is a chance for us to provide more
accessibility across the province," he said.....
A study at the University of Toronto, coauthored by Toronto economics
professor Gordon Cleveland, suggested that for every dollar invested in
child care, two dollars are saved across the system because children are
better prepared for school and have higher literacy rates, while rates of
juvenile delinquency and teen pregnancy drop.
Another study, also by Dr. Cleveland, suggested that non-profit centres
outperformed for-profit daycares by 10 per cent. |
