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A much-touted promise by the Conservatives to create 125, 000 new child-care spaces may not be doable, suggested Social Development Minister Monte Solberg.
The Conservatives have been slammed by critics for helping to create just a fraction of the spaces promised over five years.
"We have to be realistic," Solberg said Wednesday when asked if an election vow made 18 months ago can be kept.
He then firmly passed the buck to his provincial cousins.
"You know, the people who are the primary deliverers of child-care spaces are the provinces.
"The approach we're taking is working with the provinces based on what (they) are telling us they think is important. In some cases it's about creating spaces, in other cases they have other priorities."
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But NDP child-care critic Olivia Chow said other families are caught in a crossfire of political finger pointing between municipalities, provinces and Ottawa.
She said she hears from parents every day who are desperate for care they can afford: "They can't work. There are horror stories."
Also missing is any federal legislation to ensure provinces spend child-care money on high-quality, accessible programs, Chow said.
She cited long reporting delays from provincial officials -- when they report at all -- to account for how more than $2 billion in child-care funds was spent in the last three years.
"They do report," Solberg said. "I don't disagree there are concerns about how late some of them are. And I've written to them regarding that."
Still, Solberg has not threatened to withhold cash from provinces that are late to prove they spent it as intended by Ottawa.
"I don't believe in that..."
Martha Friendly, executive director of the Childcare Resource and Research Unit, has lost her $250,000 budget since the Conservatives came to power.
...
"All the evidence about well-designed early childhood education being a good thing for children is so overwhelming."
Friendly said Canada ranks well below European countries of less wealth that are doing much more for young families.
- reprinted from the Winnipeg Free Press