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Child care advocates in Edmonton used International Women's Day to call for a government funded universal day-care system.
Citing long waiting lists, high fees and underpaid workers, they characterized day care in Alberta as a system in crisis.
"I think it should be shame on all of us," said Djurdja Marjanozich, a grandmother of two young grandchildren.
"We say that children are our future."
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Bill Moore-Kilgannon, executive director of the advocacy group Public Interest Alberta, said today was also a significant day to raise the issue because Alberta Children's Services Minister Heather Forsythe was discussing day care with her federal counterpart, Diane Finley. Forsythe's office said she would not be making any announcements about the talks.
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Gillian Richards, director of the Canada Place Childcare Society, said the child-care system is strained because low salaries are scaring new workers from considering the career.
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Alberta's Liberals, who held a rally at the legislature in support of the national day-care plan, called on the province to be a leader in keeping the hard-fought deal alive.
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- reprinted from the Edmonton Journal