Ladysmith parents confirmed what two local groups working together in a bid to secure provincial child care funding already knew: the shortage of child care in the community is acute.

"I'll pay anything, almost, but there isn't anything (to pay for)," said one woman who attended Wednesday's child care forum hosted by the Boys and Girls Club and Ladysmith Resources Centre Association (LRCA).

"People beg me to take their children even though we're full," said Patti Fraser, a registered child care provider…

Kalina and Ward emphasized the importance of "giving a voice" to parents affected by child care shortages.

"The voice is important but it's not going to create spaces now," commented one woman among the 25 in attendance.

"It takes a long time for things to happen," Kalina admitted. He and Ward are hoping to build a day care centre, citing an absence of available local commercial or public space. They hope to find out the results of their application, due at the end of November, within the next four months. Construction wouldn't start until at least four months after any funding were in place.

In the meantime, some parents are commuting for child care. Debbie Johnston, who wasn't at the forum, drives her to daughter to Chase River, fifteen minutes away, then drives back to Ladysmith for work.

Kari Rose wishes she didn't have to take her young children to Nanaimo, where she works. "I want my child to be with kids they might go to school with, " she says.

Full-up day cares means there are virtually no drop-in spots for women who work shifts. One mother said she and her husband have been forced to work opposite shifts at the mill to take turns caring for their two young children. "There's no family life," she says of the arrangement.

Fraser said parents are not just making do with less than ideal options, they "are making choices to put their children in unacceptable care," like leaving multiple kids with an underage babysitter for long periods of time. "It's been so long that there's even been huge choice, they don't even know what child care looks like," she said.

Kalina acknowledged that the childcare challenges faced by parents "are complex - (but) if you want to start there, we're dead," he said. "These are political issues," he told the women. "They're not economic issues because the economy has never been more robust."

But Niki Stuart, who works at the Ladysmith Boys and Girls Club, says she thinks an abundance of employment opportunities could account for a shortfall of people going into to child care. …

Parent Rose agrees, saying there wasn't any real choice for parents even before it closed. "Family-centered practice means you can go where you choose," she says…