Government must step up
Pique Newsmagazine
By Frank St-Amand, Squamish
November 26, 2008

In response to the letter from Linda Reid, BC Minister of State for Child Care (Pique, Nov. 20); see letter from Minister Reid below.

Thank you for assisting the Whistler Children’s Centre in becoming compliant with the licensing requirement in order to provide a safe, educational and supportive environment for our children. We as parents support that licensing requirement. However, more must be done by your ministry and the premier or licensed group childcare will eventually become extinct.

You’ve indicated that you understand that communities across Canada are struggling to recruit qualified Early Childhood Educators (ECE) to meet the growing demand. To add to your comment, finding qualified Infant/Toddler (IT) certified teachers for children from 0 to 36 months is even more difficult.

The reason for the lack of child educators is very simple. I know that you are fully aware of what it is because there are numerous groups of child educators, advocacy groups and parents who have brought it to your attention on numerous occasions. The wages for ECE’s are too low. Less and less students are going through the ECE study program because once they receive their certification, they make between $12 and $16 per hour, maximum. This is a demanding career that they’ve chosen, not a student summer job.

There is a major shortage of IT educators for younger children. This is because there is absolutely no incentive for ECE educators to get their IT certification as they don’t receive a higher wage in doing so. Why isn’t there a program where ECE and IT qualifications are received simultaneously, as in other provinces?

Parents are currently responsible for 80 to 90 per cent of licensed group daycare expenses. Costs have increased for parents drastically over the years but the wages have not. Increasing wages would mean increased costs for parents. For many of us, we can’t take on much more. I know some of us are paying up to 25 per cent of net monthly income for daycare every month.

There is a disconnect between being compliant with the licensing requirement and the ability to find qualified staff. It would be like saying every hospital in B.C. must have a neurosurgeon available 24 hours per day or they are not compliant and will be forced to shut down. It’s just not realistic.

In Whistler, the matter is even worse because there is nowhere for them to live. The government prides itself on creating new physical daycare spaces every year. There are empty childcare spaces all along the Sea to Sky corridor even though the waiting lists are 100 families long. Why? Because no one can find teachers to fill the classroom.

You made your political duty by indicating that you provide loan assistance and bursaries to encourage students to enter into the child education field. Still, students decide not to enroll into the program. Why would they if they can make more money by going through the university education system and becoming public school teachers, or even a waiter? It doesn’t make sense to all of us but you and the provincial government try to justify it without acknowledging the real problem… wages.

I’ve spoken to the child advocacy groups, educators, group daycares in the corridor and parents. We all agree that we have a crisis on our hands. If the situation continues and nothing is done about the group daycare situation, it will worsen and eventually shut down. This is the reality and you know it as well as we do. What you are forcing us to do is to find care where the caregivers may not have the necessary qualifications and support system to provide our children with the proper care and education, or you are forcing one of the parents to stay home. You are taking what has worked for many years away from us by not investing into the system and leaving the parents to fend for themselves.

What we immediately need is a universal child care system, just like medicare and public schools, where daycare spaces are publicly funded and provide every child in this province and country the opportunity for safe and quality educational childcare. There is a way to do it, as this is not a new concept.

Another idea is a top up system where parents’ fees are frozen and the government subsidizes the remainder so that we can keep the educators wages at a respectable level and keep licensed group daycares open.

I really feel for the administration and child educators in this corridor and the entire province. Their job is not easy. They are truly gifted people who provide impeccable care and education for our children. Unfortunately, with the current childcare system, they won’t be around much longer.

There is a critical problem with childcare in this province… I ask that your government do what is honourable and fix it.

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B.C. cares about child care:
Letter from Linda Reid, Minister of State for Child Care, Victoria
Pique Newsmagazine
November 20, 2008

As a government, we recognize that communities like Whistler face a unique challenge in the recruitment and retention of trained professionals. Early childhood educators (ECEs) who perform an important function in child-care centres are no exception.

We have been working with the operators of Whistler Children's Centre for more than three years, ensuring they continue to operate while their qualified staff received certification. We did this because we understand how important access to quality child care is, and how important the service that Whistler Children's Centre provides to families in the community is.

I was recently in Whistler and met with representatives of Whistler Children's Centre to discuss their current situation and whether there are additional steps our government can take to assist them. We are working with the operators to ensure that the necessary steps are being taken to license their staff. While the process of verifying credentials for staff with overseas training is more time-consuming, we will continue to expedite their applications as they are received.

We also discussed some of the programs available to their staff who would like to upgrade their certification. These include a new loan assistance program, which provides up to $2,500 towards new graduates’ outstanding B.C. Student loans. The provincial government also offers more than $760,000 each year in bursaries — a 71 per cent increase since 2006.

Communities across Canada are struggling to recruit qualified ECEs to meet the growing demand. We are committed to working with child-care providers and will continue to seek solutions to overcome this challenge.