Child care a joint effort
The Record (New Westminster)
March 1, 2008
Opinion By: Jonina Campbell

Dear Editor:

As a member of New Westminster's Child-Care Task Group, a group committed to assessing and addressing local child-care needs and services, I have become increasingly aware of the need for all three levels of government - federal, provincial, and municipal - to work together to create and sustain high-quality, accessible and affordable child care….

…both the federal and provincial governments are responsible for funding. That means that both levels of government have the potential and the responsibility to be leaders in developing and funding a child-care strategy.

Neither make this a priority. Consequently, we have no national child-care policy, and B.C. continues to lack much-needed quality child-care spaces.

Municipal government also has an important role to play in supporting and sustaining quality child care.

Municipal involvement can take many forms: administrating of bylaws, inspecting child-care facilities, providing space or leasing space at below-market rents, issuing grants and negotiating with developers to include child-care spaces.

The good news is that New Westminster is moving forward. … It is crucial, given the lack of provincial and federal movement, that our local council continue to do all they can to support child care in New Westminster.

Despite lobbying from advocates, parents, and businesses, the federal and provincial governments stagnate on child-care reform.

New Westminster's city council needs to continue the good work they've started, and they must become much stronger advocates for child care by lobbying the senior levels of government for a strategic, focused approach to a publicly funded child-care program.

Municipalities cannot do it alone but must demonstrate leadership and encourage their provincial and federal counterparts to do the same.