Childcare fight unites community: GOVERNMENT CUTS: Meeting draws big crowd to talk about ways to pressure province on recent program cuts
Nelson Daily News
05 Feb 2007
By: Sara Newham

Momentum is gathering to support the reversal of cuts to childcare services announced earlier this month by the provincial government.

About 200 parents came together at the Hume Hotel Thursday evening to learn more about the cuts and how they can help change the decision.

"We were really encouraged by the size of the crowd and the support that we have from so many sectors of the community," explained Kim Adamson, West Kootenay Coordinator for Children First and Success by Six. "There's a lot of anger still being generated, disbelief from the people that were receiving the information or getting a better understanding of what exactly these cuts are going to mean to the families and the children, and hope."

The hope - Adamson explained - is that parents will voice their opposition to the government's decision to cut funding and then close Child Care Resource and Referral (CCRR) programs across the province and reduce operating funding by 27 per cent to group and in-home childcare centres across B.C., likely increasing fees parents pay.

The decision to close the CCRR programs comes a year after the province told these programs to increase access through storefront offices, hire staff and make upgrades in light of federal childcare dollars coming its way.

Now, Adamson and other childcare advocates explain, the provincial government will spend federal money intended to improve childcare to buy out office and vehicle leases and pay severance packages when they shut down the programs after September 30.

In addition to the concerned parents, several levels of politicians were on hand to receive information and a better understanding of the situation. Mayor John Dooley and city council was in attendance, Nelson-Creston MLA Corky Evans, and staff from MP Alex Atamanenko's office were there. ...

"I've been to probably 20 meetings on the subject of childcare or negotiations with workers or discussions with parents over the years, but I've never attended a meeting so broadly representative of the community," said Evans. "It was a wonderful coming together of the whole community and I was very pleased by the political representation."

When asked what he would do to try to reverse the decision, he said that the New Democrat childcare critic would tour the province in advance of the re-opening of the legislation to find out more about the issue and that the party would then question and challenge the government.

He added, however, that neither he nor the NDP would significantly change the way the government thinks about the issue.

"They aren't going to listen to me as much as they would listen to community organizations, small business, mayors and council, chambers of commerce and voters generally," said Evans, adding that the government is making its decision on ideological grounds.

"The government is making this wacko decision in the face of their own information that it is not going to help either fiscally or socially. They know all that. They are making an ideological decision and when governments lose their pragmatism, their common sense, their understanding of how regular people feel and they do things that are ideological, you can't convince them to change their minds with logic because their decision is not based on logic." Dooley explained that it's time to implement a childcare program that will transcend governments so the funding will not be dependent on the political stripes of those in power.

"I firmly believe that in this day and age, we should be well beyond the stage of changing programs at the drop of a hat," he said. "We should by now have a comprehensive program in place across the nation that can deliver affordable childcare services to people and quality childcare services to people."

He added that he plans to put forward a recommendation to city council that the City of Nelson support the attempts of childcare advocates to reverse the cuts and to write the Minister of State for Children Linda Reid asking for a reconsideration of the decision. He added that he spoke to Regional District of Central Kootenay Vice Chair Josh Smienk who would put forward a similar recommendation to the regional district to act upon.

"Also, in my role as a member of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities - I've talked to our caucus chair and I'm going to have childcare as an issue brought up at our next meeting in London, Ontario at the end of February," said Dooley, adding that the issue would also be brought up at the next Association of Kootenay Boundary Municipalities meeting in April.

"I think in the long run we need to get a grasp of the bigger picture and I don't think we'll be dealing with the other issues quite as often," he said, adding that his children had excellent childcare but that he and his wife were fortunate to have had decent incomes to pay for it. He said not everyone is in that situation butthere is an opportunity now to put a good program in place.

"That allows people to get out into the workforce as well as helping our children when they're in childcare to get quality service," he said.

Adamson explained that the time is now for parents to act by contacting the premier and the prime minister on the issue. ... "It's now a matter for parents to speak out," she said. "The early childhood [education] sector has been speaking out for parents for decades and the powers that be haven't responded to the needs of parents and children so now the parents have to raise their voices."