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EXCERPTS
Numbers don't lie. And neither do politicians - right?
But in the case of Abbotsford's daycare crisis, something's got to give.
In the Dec. 7 issue of the Times, we told you about Brenda Methorst, a single mom who fears she may have to quit her studies at UCFV because she can't find suitable daycare for her daughter.
In the Dec. 11 issue, we told you how front-line workers - people like Fraser Valley Coalition for Child Care chairwoman Andrea Senft - view this issue as "beyond crisis." In today's paper [page 8] we asked our local MLAs what they are doing about this problem.
Both Mike de Jong and John van Dongen say they understand how frustrating it can be for parents trying to find child care in Abbotsford, and both pointed to several programs their government has funded that are intended to help in addressing daycare problems.
We don't deny our government spends a lot, especially with rising health care costs, the 2010 Olympic Games on the way, and a huge overrun - more than $880 million - on the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre to pay for.
The federal government didn't help at all when it pulled a plan to create more child care spaces, which would have meant $356 million for Abbotsford.
If you look at the B.C. government website, it will tell you the province plans to invest $287 million for child care services this year. But check out a report from UBC's Early Learning and Child Care Research unit, and that tells you our government set aside $377 million for child care programs in 2006/07 - and only about $273 million has actually been allocated toward such programs.
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This daycare crisis - whether you define it as one or not - can't be blamed on any one individual, group or government. That's why all levels of government - and the entire community - need to get on this and start working toward a realistic solution.
- reprinted from the Abbotsford Times