Day cares brace for sweeping cutbacks: Some operators consider holding a day of protest
The Daily News -- Nanaimo
31 Jan 2007
By: Valerie Wilson

Parents in Nanaimo could be struggling to find child care on Feb. 13 if day-care centres shut their doors to protest provincial and federal funding cuts.

Joan Parsons runs a family child care centre from her home in Harewood. She said the funding cuts mean she will lose about $1 a day for each child she cares for.

"They are taking away from every space in the province," she said on Tuesday.

Group day-care centres will see deeper cuts.

Sharon Larkins operates Tender Beginnings Child Care Centre on First Street. She'll lose $2 a day for each child she cares for aged three to five, and $4 a day for each child under 30 months.

"It averages for us, with 16 kids, about $800 a month," Larkins said.

The cuts are the result of a federal government decision .... As a result, the provincial government has said it will have to cut funding to day cares.

Larkins doesn't expect the funding cuts will mean she has to lay off staff, but it will likely cost parents more out of their own pockets for child care.

"I think centres will up their fees," she said.

She was contemplating a fee increase for this fall, and said she may have to make that increase higher than originally planned.

A rally at the provincial legislature in Victoria is also planned Feb. 13, the same day as the Speech from the Throne to mark the opening of the spring sitting of government.

Parsons said she won't decide on whether to shut her centre until she has more information about the protest, and Larkins said Tender Beginnings will definitely be open.