Actions speak louder than words. Two Abbotsford MLAs say they know it can be tough to find daycare in Abbotsford, but say they'll also take action to help to solve the problem - where they can.

They also say people need to be realistic in their expectations.

"A universal child care program that pays more than $14 an hour - I'm not convinced both levels of government [provincial and federal] can provide that," said Abbotsford-Clayburn MLA John van Dongen…

"It's a huge crisis. It's beyond crisis," Fraser Valley Coalition for Child Care chairwoman Andrea Senft said Monday.

Numbers from a recent study conducted by the United Way of the Fraser Valley show there are nearly 7,000 children under the age of five in Abbotsford who need child care - and only 1,175 licenced child care spaces. That study also shows the average wage earned by early childhood education workers in the valley is $10 to $14 per hour….

"We do have many in this community who require care for children under five," she said. "We are in a great need of spaces, especially for infants and toddlers."

Waddell, Senft and single mom and UCFV student Brenda Methorst all want to see incentives in place to attract ECE workers into post-secondary programs and into the field - incentives such as higher wages…..

"I'm satisfied there's a challenge where child care is concerned and we're going to try to address it," de Jong (MLA) said…

"This is something the federal, municipal and provincial government need to work on . . . the new hospital would be a logical place to look at the development and inclusion of child care."

Methorst …. also wondered why UCFV shut down its daycare program in 2003.

The institution's administration and board decided the program was not sustainable and "it was not feasible to continue."

Both MLAs pointed to several initiatives their government has funded to help with child care, but van Dongen said it can be difficult to balance funding, especially with limited dollars….