Council endorses National Childcare Strategy
Cowichan Valley Citizen
10 Sep 2006
Byline: Andrea Rondeau

After a presentation by early childhood education advocate Mary Dolan, North Cowichan council voted Wednesday to reverse a previous decision to stay out of the federal debate on childcare and will be sending a letter endorsing the idea of developing a National Childcare Strategy with funding to make it a reality.

"We're trying to bring Canada into a place where the other developed countries of the world, apart from the United States, already are," Dolan told council during her presentation.

The matter had previously come to council several months ago through a letter from the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C. with a suggested resolution for council to pass.

Some members of council were in favour of passing the resolution, but others argued it was too inflammatory in its criticisms of the current federal Conservative government and their "family bonuses" program, which directly gives families $1,200 per year for every child under the age of six. This money can be used for childcare.

The previous federal Liberal government had committed about $5 billion over the next five years to establish a national childcare program. Of those funds, $633 million was to come to B.C.

The Conservative government cancelled that plan.

In May, council voted not to send a letter urging for a continuation of the Liberal-promised funding.

"The issue, very unfortunately, is a political one," acknowledged Coun. George Seymour.

Dolan, who was accompanied by a delegation also concerned about the future of ECE, reintroduced the topic, urging council to forget about the partisan politics and consider the many national and regional groups -- experts in the field -- that have been working for many years to get a national ECE strategy up and running.

She talked about the seven myths of childcare, common views held by many, that are standing in the way of what she says is a necessary federal commitment.

Number one and two, Dolan said, are that non-parental care is bad for kids and undermines the family. She countered that childcare is, in fact, a family support program. Three is that the community has to choose between funding the child and funding a childcare system, whereas what is needed is to fund both.

"We can and should do both," she told council.

Other myths, she said, include that childcare is just for poor or working parents, that the $100 per month given by the current government will expand options, that most working moms would prefer to stay home and that the Liberal childcare plan failed.

The reality, Dolan said, is that the number of mothers in the workforce has doubled over the past decades without any substantial increase in childcare services. She said there's no indication that women are going to start dropping out of the workforce any time soon either, with simple economic necessity playing a big role in in this shift.

"It's here and its likely here to stay," she said of the demographic change. "It's not getting easier for families at this time."

It's also too early to judge the Liberal plan one way or the other, Dolan said, as it is only one year into a five-year plan. What she does know, she said, is that the federal funding came at a time when ECE was in extreme crisis. Now, with that funding to be cut off in 2007, there's potential for a return to that crisis state.

"We don't know where we will be next year," she told council.

This time around, councillors voted to send a letter to the federal government urging for development and funding of a national childcare strategy which would also include an acknowledgement of the benefits of the current family bonus plan put in place by the Conservative government.