MP, MLA push national childcare legislation
Vancouver Island News Group / Duncan News Leader
March 14, 2007

Laura Goodridge is the kind of parent childcare advocates are fighting for. The 23-year-old single mom is living off a monthly budget of $1,100 in a one- bedroom apartment. She usually sleeps on the hideaway bed so her five-year-old son, Nicholas, can have the bedroom.

"We're barely making it," she said.

Still, some would count Goodridge among the lucky ones. She's gotten her child into a licensed daycare centre and fees are fully subsidized. That has afforded her the opportunity to obtain her high school equivalency and, hopefully, move on to college.

When her son turns six, though, she'll lose a monthly $120 allowance the federal government provides for children under six. The feds used that subsidy to replace the national childcare agreement they scrapped last year. Goodridge is a good example of why local politicians and childcare advocates are fighting for a universal childcare system.

Nanaimo-Cowichan MP Jean Crowder and Cowichan-Ladysmith MLA Doug Routley have announced their intentions to work jointly to fight for a better childcare system. Both will call on provincial and federal governments to do so.

During a press conference Monday at Parkside Academy, the politicians spoke about what they say is Canada's flawed childcare system and listened to stories from parents and childcare advocates.

"We're trying to encourage the government to step up with their massive surplus to fill the gap the federal government has left," Routley said. "It's only through this kind of action that we were able to partially reduce the cuts. "

He's talking about the provincial government's decision to restore millions of dollars it cut from its Child Care Resource and Referral budget.

That budget was slashed by nearly 80 per cent in January. The provincial government has since pledged to re-commit $9 million to it, after people throughout B.C. protested cuts.

Crowder said public outcry was likely what inspired the Minister of State for Child Care, Linda Reid, to partially restore the budget.

She encouraged attendees Monday to call on the government to move forward with national childcare legislation. After all, she said, childcare is an important sector.

"It's an investment in our future," she said. "It makes a huge difference about how we feel about going back to school or back to work. Everybody's quibbling about funding."

On April 3, childcare advocates will be holding another meeting outside City Hall.