Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

The following statement is signed by a cross-section of organizations and individuals who believe that we all have a stake in helping parents raise the next generation of Canadians

OTTAWA, Jan. 12 /CNW Telbec/ - As the federal election draws near, Canadians concerned about the country’s future should closely examine the Conservative child care promises. These promises are a throwback to the past. They will not deliver the kind of high quality child care our children deserve nor the support today’s parents need. Instead, a Stephen Harper government would erase the progress we have finally begun to make towards building a system of accessible care for children across Canada.

The Conservatives say they would create 125,000 child care spaces through a $10,000 tax credit to employers.

Past experience with this trickle-down approach has been dismal. Mike Harris’s government used the same scheme-a tax incentive to employers for workplace child care-and no new spaces were created. Saskatchewan and New Brunswick had similar programs with poor results. In any case, most workplace child care in Canada is associated with public sector employers who can’t take advantage of tax credits.

The Conservatives’ math is also questionable. Capital and start-up costs for developing a child care space are considerably more than a $10,000 tax credit, especially in big cities. For example, in Vancouver, the cost would be closer to $40,000 because of the high cost of land and construction.

And what about the cost of operating affordable spaces once they’re created? Employers have shown they’re not willing to fund the ongoing cost of workplace child care and that leaves parents and provincial governments on the hook.

Stephen Harper says he’ll tear up child care funding agreements with the provinces.

The Conservatives would take back billions of already-committed child care funding that the provinces are counting on. The provinces are responsible for child care and would have to abandon their plans to use these dollars for much-needed expansion and quality improvements, with devastating results. For example, Manitoba would have to cancel plans for 3,000 new community-based child care spaces and 200 nursery school places would no longer be feasible.

Toronto would not get its planned 5,000 new subsidies to help low- and modest-income parents pay for child care and would not be able to build 58 new planned centres. Saskatchewan would have to cancel an announced wage increase for child care staff. And the plans of other provinces would meet a similar fate.

No worries, the Conservatives will give families $25 a week.

The proposed allowance would be taxed back from all families except those with one parent at home, so $25 represents a maximum. This cash would not help parents find high quality child care-you can’t buy what doesn’t exist. Even existing child care (only enough for 15% of young children) costs 10 or 20 times the $3 or $4 a day the allowance would provide. While many families do need income support, families with young children very much need and want a range of quality, affordable child care services. An increase in public investment in high quality child care and-at the same time-an increase in the existing National Child Benefit would make much more sense for today’s families.

Say no to the Conservative child care scheme

Solving Canada’s child care crisis will take a lot more than sound bites, simplistic ideas and discredited theories. Canada needs a plan and a program that recognizes the social and economic benefits that good early learning and child care produces for children, families and all of society. Most successful industrialized nations recognize the benefits of public investment in high quality child care and already have universal programs. Canada, its children and their families deserve one too.

We won’t get it with the Conservative plan.

The Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada was founded in 1983 to promote quality, inclusive, publicly funded, non-profit child care accessible to all. The association’s more than 140,000 members include parents, caregivers, researchers and students; and women’s, anti-poverty, labour, social justice, disability and rural organizations.

This statement is endorsed by the following organizations:

• Action Canada for Canadian Population and Development
• Feed The Children, Toronto
• Canadian Labour Congress
• Association of Early Childhood Educators
• Canadian Research Institute forthe Advancement of Women (CRIAW)/ Ontario Institut Canadien de recherches sur les femmes (ICREF)
• BC General Employees Union
• Campaign 2000
• Canadian Union of Postal Workers
• Canadian Union of Public Employees(CUPE)
• Canadian Auto Workers (CAW)
• Child Care Coalition of Manitoba
• Canadian Federation of Nurses Union
• Middle Years Matter Coalition
• National Anti-Poverty Organization
• Canadian Federation of Students
• Child Care Council of Ottawa
• National Association of Women and the Law
• Childcare Resource and Research Unit, University of Toronto
• National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE)
• Centre for Social Justice
• Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care
• Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC
• Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association
• Communications, Energy & Paperworkers Union of Canada
• Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF)
• Community Social Planning Council of Toronto
• Ontario Women’s Health Network
• CUPE Local 2204 Child Care Workers of Eastern Ontario
• Ottawa Child Care Association
• Parents for Quality Care, New Brunswick
• CUPE Local 2484 Child Care Workers
• Poverty and Human Rights Centre
• Public Interest Alberta
• Early Childhood Educators of BC
• Public Service Alliance of Canada, Ontario
• Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario
• Rural Voices
• Family Service Association of Toronto
• Saskatchewan Early Learning Child Care Coalition
• Feminist Alliance for International Action
• Somali Family & Child Skills Development Services
• Saskatoon Communities for Children
• First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition
• SpeciaLink, The National Inclusion Network
• Hospital Employees Union
• Integration Network Project, Institute of Child Study, OISE/University of Toronto
• Success by Six, Saskatoon
• Toronto Coalition for Better Child Care
• Waterloo Regional Labour Council
• International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
• Islamic Social Services and Resources Association
• Westcoast Child Care Resource Centre
• Low Income Families Together (LIFT) Resource and Education centre
• West Kootenay Certified Dental Assistants Society
• YWCA Canada
• Manitoba Federation of Labour
• Manitoba Government and General Employees Union
• Medical Reform Group
• Yukon Child Care Association