Tories lagging in child care: report
Prince George Citizen
11 Apr 2008

The number of new regulated child-care spaces in Canada has dropped by thousands since the Conservatives took power and gutted a $5-billion Liberal funding plan, says a new report.

Toronto's Childcare Resource and Research Unit says 26,600 spaces opened across the country in 2006 -- down from 32,600 in each of the previous two years, and a steep drop from almost 51,000 a year between 2001 and 2004.…

"The need is still enormous. If we really want to have good quality early education and care programs for children and families, there has to be public policy and public money that make it happen. We need a national program.

"Without the tools, the policy and the money to work with, it happens very sporadically and very slowly."

Canada lags well behind other industrialized countries, especially those in Europe, that support services ranging from infant care to pre-school, Friendly says.