Something is better than nothing - NO, that is not good enough!
The Local - Sechelt
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
By Dianne Goldberg, Halfmoon Bay

Thank you …. for writing about day care needs and provincial child care funding for the Sunshine Coast.

Accessing daycare is NOT a new issue for communities, employers and families. …. trying to access community based, quality, affordable child care spaces started for our family [and many others] over 3 decades ago. Taxpayers had educated us and as parents we intended to use our education and skills to contribute to our community and to the economy by participating in the labour force and by paying our fair share of taxes to support a healthy province and country.

Carrying on … over the last 20 or so years, many of us expected with all the local, provincial and international research affirming the importance and benefits of quality child care for children, families and communities, that our politicians would have listened to the wake up call of parents and experts and introduced new policy and funding to build a quality child care system.

How sad that the provincial and federal spin today sits in harsh contrast to the real facts when it comes to daycare.  Over the last 6 years, the BC Liberal government has led the way with significant child care funding cuts, the federal Conservative government has joined in and 'onwards to yesterday' could be our theme song!

Big deal that in 2007/08 BC has created a few new grants and is busy handing out financial crumbs with public hoopla from politicians promising they are 'doing their best' and providing 'choice for parents'. Child care is still not available, is still not affordable and child care workers still cannot pay the rent!

We need politicians who will do what is right for our children and grandchildren. Children and families, and employers and employees on the Sunshine Coast and across BC need a real publicly funded plan that lowers parent fees, raises child care worker wages, and creates and sustains enough quality child care spaces for all families that want and need to access daycare.