Fight on for child care
Kamloops This Week
By DARSHAN LINDSAY
Jun 02 2006

[Caption under photo: There was no holding back as Susan Harney with the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C. spoke passionately about the plight of child care during a public forum in Kamloops Wednesday night at Thompson Rivers University....]

Frustrated by the lack of funding for child care, local providers discussed the possibility this week of shutting down their facilities to get noticed.

The idea came up during a forum on child care in Kamloops Wednesday, sponsored by the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C. (CCCABC) and the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU).

"This profession is a 'nice' profession. Until you withdraw services," one woman said, the issue won't get the attention it deserves.

Another woman, a teacher, said child-care professionals would have the backing of the labour movement.

"You don't know how much you are valued and supported . . . We would be there to back you."

The meeting, which attracted about 50 people, mostly women, many of whom worked either in family or group day-care operations, was told child-care providers on Vancouver Island did just that last month.

They closed their facilities for a day to stage a rally on the lawns of the provincial legislature.

Wednesday's meeting at Thompson Rivers University is part of a united campaign by the CCCABC and the BCGEU to "make child care happen." The groups are angered by the federal Conservative government's intention to drop plans for a national child-care program as negotiated with provinces last year by the previous governing Liberals.

With this, and the subsequent loss of federal funding for child care to the province, they are worried about the future of child care in B.C. Susan Harney, chairwoman for the CCCABC, said until this week, the province had been silent on the issue.

"Linda Reid said she will fight for B.C.'s babies," said Harney, who's not entirely convinced by recent comments from the minister of state for child care.

She said the provincial government has, since 2002, cut $40 million in annual provincial funding for child care. Instead, any new announcements, Harney charged, has come from money directed from federal coffers.

During the meeting, Harney listed off a number of myths surrounding child care, which she said need to be countered. They include that if you have children, it's your responsibility to look after them.

"As Canadians, we don't act that way," said Harney, pointing to public education, funding for parks and community facilities, all of which enhance the community at large.

Another myth, she said, is that a national child care program would only benefit a few. She said more than 80 per cent of women who work return to the workforce within a year of having a child.

Speakers in attendance at Wednesday's meeting agree child care is in a crisis. They spoke of too few child-care spaces, of long wait lists and of a profession that pays poorly.

Stephanie Seaman, who works at a unionized facility in an affluent neighbourhood in Vancouver, said statistics indicate that within three to five years of graduating from an early childhood education program, more than 50 per cent of child-care workers will leave the field.