Parents tired of hearing same old lines
Richmond News
April 18, 2008
Letters By: Teresa Pan

The Editor,

Re: "Groundbreaking turns heartbreaking for working parent," News, April 11.

Linda Reid, Minister of State for Childcare, continues to use the same tired lines when faced again and again by working parents and child care professionals.

Daycares have wait lists of several hundred families. Parents need to put their names on infant daycare wait lists well before conceiving.

Families looking for out-of-school care must camp out in April. But, Minister Reid tells us "You can't put much stock in wait list data."

You are wrong Minister Reid; the fact that parents are so desperate that they put their names on every wait list possible is the biggest indicator that the government is failing working families.

We need to work; housing costs alone dictate this.

We also take satisfaction in our careers and we contribute to the economy through our taxes paid and by participating in the labour market during the current labour shortage.

Give us the daycare spaces we need -- now. Not next year, or the year after. We have waited far too long already.

Unless families start seeing relief and can acquire care for their children without significant stress, the government has failed.

My oldest child is almost six years old. I personally have seen no improvement in access to care since his birth….