Childcare cuts hurt kids, parents
Westside Weekly [Central Okanagen]
24 Jan 2007
Letters -- By: Melanie Gauthier

How sad it is that our most valuable resources, our children, will be the ones to suffer?

With $455 million stripped from an already under-appreciated, yet invaluable service of providing quality child care and programs to our children, entire communities will suffer.

Anyone who has children, or is even thinking of having children, is going to be affected by these (provincial government) cuts.

As the owner of a small licensed facility, I can tell you that my rates are not the cheapest in town, but certainly are commensurate with the quality of care my talented team provides. We are not a babysitting service. As a licensed daycare, we are mandated to provide quality educational programming to our children.

I am proud to say that I compensate my team well for their unique educational skill set and they are worth every penny and a whole lot more.

I get the impression that parents think facility owners have a cash cow on their hands -- we don't.

It is important for all members of our community to realize that most daycare facilities are able to operate their businesses with the government assistance they receive from the Child Care Operating Fund.

Believe it or not, that fund keeps our doors open. That is the reality. So with these cuts. we will likely see daycares being forced to raise their rates just to stay open or, alternatively, closing.

In a community starved for child-care spots, and the likelihood that the number of spots will actually decrease, parents will be faced with a real crisis.

What will happen to our local economy when parents can no longer find or even afford child care and have to leave the workforce?

You cannot go a block without seeing a "help wanted" sign these days.

Are we not already facing a shortage of available employable individuals in our community? This snowball effect may potentially cause community unrest and dissatisfaction and then where will we be? I for one am not looking forward to finding out.

What does this mean for the future of child care? Who really knows.

What I believe is this: we will see a decrease in the number of individuals entering the field of early childhood education, facilities will shut down, daycare spaces will decrease and rates will inevitably increase to such a point that parents are forced to stay home and our children will ultimately suffer.

My team and I have worked too long and too hard to walk away from our most valuable commodity -- our children. I challenge everyone out there to speak to child care professionals or visit a child-care facility and really find out what a valuable service it is they provide.

I am but one voice. I hope that this issue touches the readers in some way to encourage them to speak out. It is the voice of the parents who need to be heard and challenge these funding cuts. Your voices can make a difference. If this letter has touched you in any way, then my voice already has.