No defence
Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Times
February 2, 2007
Mailbag -- By: Lorraine Trulsen, director Heritage Park Child Care Centre

Editor:

Re: MLA responds, TIMES Mailbag, Jan. 30

How politically correct is MLA Randy Hawes' response to his "Cadillac" of child-care quote? Even when he writes in to defend himself, he doesn't. He tries to put the onus on the paper for not clarifying his stand.

In his response, he states that "child care remains a high priority for our government." If that statement were true, Mr. Hawes and his government would have fought harder to keep the federal money coming in to our province or used their big surplus to replace it. They didn't. I don't believe that the other provinces are dealing with the cuts that we are, thanks to our government.

We are hearing an awful lot about the Community Childcare Resource and Referral programs and their cuts, which I agree is tragic -- however we are all being affected. I run a non-profit centre in Mission and we are losing approximately $2,000 a month in funding because of these cuts. These cuts to the funding are going to hit every aspect of child care. I have been in this field for 23 years and it is still a "second income" job because the wages are so low.

The people who work in this field do so because they want to make a difference in the lives of the children that they care for daily. Quality is a priority and I can say the staff at my centre care about the quality they provide, even if they make low wages. The only positive thing I can see coming from these cuts is that maybe now parents will become more vocal about what they want from their government when it comes to childcare because the lost funding has to be replaced somehow, and that is going to be expected from the parents in their monthly fees. I know of many people that voted for the Liberal party because of their child-care platform. Well, the foundation of their platform has crumbled, so don't expect many votes next time around.

I encourage parents to attend these rallies that are being organized. There is power in numbers and it is high time this field gets a voice.