Critic leads child care forum
Vernon Morning Star
By Katherine Mortimer
May 11, 2008

Low wages, lack of space and long waiting lists are all contributing to the crisis in child care.

As the child care critic for the NDP, the official opposition party in British Columbia, Claire Trevena is travelling throughout the province as part of the Raising B.C. initiative to hear from parents and providers on the critical issues facing child care.

Trevena, MLA for the North Island in Campbell River, was in Vernon Friday, hosting a round table discussion at West Vernon Children’s Centre.

“If we are to continue to grow our economy and build safe and healthy communities, we must have accessible, affordable and quality child care in place for working families,” said Trevena.

She said in B.C., 80 per cent of families who want quality child care can’t afford it, and B.C. parents pay amongst the highest child care fees in the world. According to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, Canada ranks last in a list of 14 leading developed countries when it comes to spending on child care.

According to UBC’s Human Early Learning Partnership, B.C. has enough licensed child-care spaces for just 12 per cent of the province’s children.

…. “And then I’ll [Travena] take the information to the legislature, to challenge the government. We need to get the information from the communities, not just to be in Victoria and say ‘this is how it is.’”

Trevena said low wages means early childhood educators are leaving the field for better-paying jobs.

“We have a crisis primarily because child care workers are not paid enough,” she said. “We see people who are dedicated to the profession, so while the ministry may be creating physical spaces, they’re still not creating space if they don’t have the workers to look after the children. It’s about choices, and the government hasn’t chosen to invest in child care. Under the budget for child care, the figure was listed, in brackets, as federal funding, which means no provincial funding goes into child care.

“Many women have to work, especially in B.C. where the cost of living is so high, but women also have the right to work, and it shouldn’t just be a women’s issue, it should be a family issue.”

Lynne Reside, executive director of the North Okanagan Child Care Society, … said wages have not kept pace with the rising cost of living.

“Even people who are educated in this field are making the decision to go into other fields,”

“You know you’re not going to get rich doing this, but you have to have liveable wages. We need a universal child care system, where we have quality, accessible child care. When parents are paying more for child care than their mortgage, there’s something wrong. How do people work if they don’t have good child care. They provide universal child care in Quebec….”

She added that while some parents may have found child care, it may be less-than-ideal, causing added anxiety for both parents and child. Many parents rely on a variety of arrangements, from family and friends to part-time child care.

“We have all the resources we need,” she said. “I can see that the ministry is making inroads in the area of early childhood development, and yet child care is lagging far behind.”

While infant-toddler spaces are the most difficult for parents to secure, they are also the least financially viable for a centre to run, said Reside. ….“They are our most highly trained staff, so the fees would have to go through the roof in order to make it financially viable,’

Operating out of the old West Vernon elementary school space, the centre currently has a waiting list of between 300 and 400 children.

Amanda Humphrey is an ECE at West Vernon who left the field after realizing she couldn’t continue working 40 hours a week, and then working another 40 hours a week when she got home.

“I had years of experience, but the low pay made it hard to make ends meet,” said Humphrey, who has recently returned to work at the centre. ….“We have to stand up for our rights, but do we tell parents to make up the difference?”

“…we need the government help.”