Daycare Games don’t add up
PIQUE Whistler NEWSMAGAZINE
April 10, 2008

Letter to editor by Cathy Jewett, Whistler

After reading the coverage on the closing of Teddy Bear Daycare in both local papers what really bothered me was the quote from Doti Neidermeyer. I hope it was taken out of context. The quote was that the Teddy Bear Daycare would make “awesome” space for the arts council. … While the arts council scrambles for a swell office in time for 2010, parents are going to scramble for childcare. What got us into this mess? The federal Conservative government cut funding to childcare and put it in parents’ pockets — giving them “choice” rather than funding spaces. Never mind that studies have proven that early childhood education reduces dropout rates, which in turn reduces crime rates. The provincial government is introducing Early Childhood Education, but funding is miniscule. Thankfully the RMOW has helped fund the shortfall locally, but can only do so much.

While the articles addressed the days that have not had sufficient demand — though I am incredulous that visiting families did not use this space — we did not hear about demand for other days and whether there are waiting lists. No mention was made of the number of spaces in the facilities and the actual measured effect of the reduction of childcare space.

Meanwhile schools will close during the Olympics and there is no plan in place to help working parents get to work. The RMOW has 45 childcare spaces for school-aged children. There are 600 elementary school aged students in Whistler. A phone survey indicates 50 per cent of families will require affordable, safe childcare during the Olympics. For the sake of argument cut that 300 children to 200 and we still don’t have enough. While there are some families that can afford to have only one parent work, most are caught by the high cost of housing. …In January, at the tightly managed RMOW 2010 Town Hall Meeting where the question about whether you can drive your car was answered ad nauseum (you can’t), the public was assured that VANOC would have a real Town Hall Meeting in a couple of weeks. One where you could ask any question you liked. During the Olympics 1,000 Whistler students will be out of school; 4,500 students altogether, including Pemberton to Squamish. There are also approximately 360 pre-school aged children in Whistler. Will the Olympic Games be a memorable experience for them?