Daycare funding protest planned
Vancouver Island News
12 May 2006
EXCERPT

When you're a single mother raising two toddlers and trying to earn a post-secondary degree, any extra child-care funding should be cause for celebration.

But for Camosun College student Heather Doyle, the $1,200 per child daycare program contained in last week's federal budget is a double- edged sword that may leave her with even less daycare money.

"I'm having some really big fears about this," said Doyle, a social work student at Camosun. "I had a really hard time finding daycare and I can only afford it only with the subsidy."

The 24-year-old said it costs her about $12,000 a year to keep her two toddlers in daycare. The Harper government's new Universal Child Care Benefit will pay her $2,400 annually. But if the Tories follow through on plans to reduce child-care funding in other areas, Doyle said her subsidy might end up being less than what she has now…

In addition to phasing in the Universal Child Care Benefit, the federal budget proposed phasing out Canada's child care tax benefit by June 30, 2006 and a program known as the under seven supplement by June 30, 2007. The Tories also scrapped a $5 billion national child-care program brought in by the previous government.

Some of that money flows to parents and daycare providers via the provincial government. Linda Reid, B.C.'s Minister of State for Child Care, said Wednesday it's too soon to measure the impact of federal changes on provincial funding.

The province allocates $200 million annually for child care, but received almost $90 million in federal child-care funding as well, money that is guaranteed until March 31, 2007.

"I'm going to be hugely vigilant on this issue," Reid said. "It poses a whole bunch of questions that we don't have answers to yet." ..

The Universal Child Care Benefit has been criticized by child-care providers who say it can benefit the rich more than the poor.

Saanich parent Leah Normanton, who works for Canada Revenue Agency, noted the $1,200 payments count as taxable income and provide greater benefit to higher-income earner than to low-income families.

For example, a stay-at-home mom with a husband earning $100,000 will keep almost the entire $1,200, whereas a family with a combined income of $50,000 will have to pay about $350 in taxes on that same $1,200.

"It's got to be based on a means and needs test," Normanton said.

Rosemary Mann, who runs the Victoria-based Young Parents Support Network, said the Tory policies ignore Canada's chronic shortage of quality child care.

"If you're going to give people money for child care, there needs to be child-care spaces. And there's just aren't enough child-care spaces available."

The Tory budget earmarks $250 million a year, beginning April 1, 2007, to help create child-care spaces. At that point, funding now flowing to the provinces under the Liberal child-care program will stop.