Daycare operators plan protest in Victoria over funding cutbacks: Parents worrying about big increase in fees, loss of spaces
Comox Valley Echo
February 6, 2007
By: Mary Anne Ocol

Parents of young children may find the doors to local daycares closed on Tuesday, Feb. 13 as child care advocates across the province plan to stage a day of protest over the B.C. government's recently announced cuts to child care funding....

But child care workers, parents, and advocates say the provincial cuts will severely impact parents who will likely see their child care fees increase anywhere from $40 to $100 per month per child.

"All provinces have had their funding reduced and other provinces have chosen not to take it out on child care. But our government has chosen to do that," said Charlene Gray, supervisor at Tigger Too preschool.

She said the drastic reduction in funding will not only impact parents by increasing fees, but also impact parents in other ways including increasing staff to child ratios by bringing back the minimum standards in daycare to one caregiver to eight children.

No new spaces will also be created due to the termination of the major capital grant program, she said, and access to quality child care will be harder to find as wait lists will continue to rise.

These changes will be particularly devastating for single parents like Heidi Fujino whose three-year-old son has been on several waiting lists for over one year now.

"It has come to the point that if I am unsuccessful in finding a vacant spot I will have to quit my job and as a single mother of two children", she said, "This just isn't a realistic solution."

Funding for the Child Care Resource and Referral Program, meanwhile, will also be reduced resulting in a loss of support for families with their Child Care Subsidy application, information and assistance.

Information on quality child care and child care referrals will also no longer be available, said Gray.

As a result of these changes, early childhood educators across the province are taking action beginning on Tuesday Feb. 6, when they will be wearing black arm bands to draw attention to the cuts.

The day also represents the first anniversary of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's swearing in.

A rally will also be held in Victoria on Tuesday, Feb. 13 on the steps of the legislature where a large crowd of parents and caregivers are expected to participate.

To learn more about how the cuts to child care funding will affect parents or the planned action to protest these cuts, visit the Early childhood Educator's of B.C. web site at www.ecebc.ca.