Child care kept on the agenda: Children’s Centre directors appeal to Village for support
Whistler Question
December 24, 2008
Megan Grittani-Livingston

WHISTLER – Directors of the Pemberton Childcare Society are raising their voices to ensure that child care and early childhood education (ECE) issues stay on the agenda in the corridor, the province and the country.

As the Pemberton Children’s Centre approaches the end of its first year of operations, members of the Pemberton Childcare Society’s board of directors have reached out to the Village’s newly elected politicians to detail the significant challenges facing both the Children’s Centre and the ECE profession throughout the province.

The society oversees the operations of the sparkling new facility located on Cottonwood Street, which opened for business in early February and currently serves 80 families from the area … the society’s directors are focusing on tackling the problem of attracting and keeping qualified ECE staff, and paying off the loans taken on to finance additional costs incurred during construction of the $1.2-million facility.

In an interview Monday (Dec. 23), Tamara Beaton and Claudine Lazic, co-chairs of the society’s volunteer board of directors, said child care centres throughout the province are struggling to find enough licensed early childhood educators.

“I think fewer people are going into that field because it is a grossly underpaid position,” Lazic said.

… While the issue is province-wide, Lazic and Beaton said, it’s particularly acute in Pemberton and Whistler, where the costs of housing and living are so high.

“ECE teachers are extremely valuable, and the work they do is so important – they’re looking after our children and helping us to shape and mould their lives and personalities. Unfortunately, they do not get recognized financially for that, so we need to show our appreciation in any way that we can,” Beaton said….

In their letter, the directors also asked Council to help lobby the Province for financial support for ECE staff wages. “We need to make this an issue for our government and make them understand how many people in our town, in our corridor, in our province, in our country are affected by this,” Beaton told The Question.

The letter asks Council for help with operational expenses such as snow clearing and garbage removal. Saving on those costs could give the society more money to spend on wages or use to pay off the loans taken on to get the centre’s doors open. The society and its volunteers are working hard to repay its approximately $169,000 worth of loans…

“Our goal is to pay down these loans as quickly as possible so that we can spend our money on the operation and sustainability of our Centre,” Beaton said….

Mayor Jordan Sturdy said he has already spoken to the region’s MLA about the staffing issue several times. He said he’s sure the Council can be involved in further lobbying “as opportunities arise.”

“Obviously child care is incredibly important… I believe that it should be part of our education system,” Sturdy said….