Child-care plan draws mixed reviews
Coquitlam Now
May 5, 2006
By: Simone Blais
EXCERPT

The Conservative government's plan to give cash to moms and dads to help with child care is being given the thumbs up by at least one local parent -- but care providers say the money won't address a pressing need on the horizon...

And for Heather Treleaven, a mother of two and co-president of the Kiddies Korner Preschool in Port Coquitlam, news that $100 cheques will be in the mail for her and other families is "fabulous."

"It gives people more options," she says.

"I'm a stay-at-home mom and made the necessary sacrifices to do that ... Under the old system, I could only claim preschool costs if I was using that time to go to work or to go to school.

"Under this system, it allows people who are choosing to be at home that same benefit. It's less discriminatory....

With parents receiving $100 per child per month, Treleaven says that may help Kiddies Korner families cover the costs of taking that one day off per month to be with their kids.

Critics of the Conservatives' universal child care benefit say the promised $1,200 per year doesn't come close to covering the cost of full-time child care -- which is closer to $1,200 per month.

While Treleaven understands that argument, she says flexibility must come first.

"It should be, could be more," she says. "But I think the format of the way it's being put in place makes a lot of sense, and I like how it's not discriminating against parents who are making the effort to try to be at home.

"Not that the parents who don't stay home are bad or are doing something wrong -- it's a personal decision -- but it helps me have the freedom to do what's best for our family."

The Tories also committed $250 million to create new child-care spaces, with the aim of serving 25,000 more kids in coming years.

That's the best news of all, according to YMCA Canada president and CEO Bill Stewart.

"If you talk to any of the child-care providers, they'll tell you that they all have anywhere between two- to three-year waiting lists at all their centres," Stewart said.

"We are no different. We have the same kinds of issues, and I think that's a real challenge for young families."

The Conservatives have backed off on a plan to afford corporations up to $10,000 in tax credits for each child-care space they create -- which Stewart said was a good move, but a concrete plan to create spaces needs to be in place as soon as possible.

"While some corporations may in fact create some spaces, I think that we're going to have to have a different kind of strategy to create those kinds of spaces," he said.

"I just don't think that corporations, in terms of a tax credit, will produce the kind of volume of new spaces that are required."