EXCERPTS
Today Code Blue for Child Care responded to the four year agenda laid out in today's federal budget.
"Last week's Throne Speech - Here for all Canadians - promised ‘good jobs, security for our families and a prosperous future', but today's budget doesn't even mention child care", said Ottawa's Shellie Bird, Coordinator of Code Blue. "There is a huge gap between the needs of the 75% of mothers with young children in the labour force and accessibility to high quality not-for-profit childcare. Scraps like children's art class credits are on a different planet from most families' realities and extremely questionable in light of so many unmet needs".
Research shows that quality accessible early childhood education and child care provides excellent economic stimulus and social value. Such a system would ensure "security for our families", provide "good jobs" for women, and help ensure that Canada has "a prosperous future" by educating the future work force. Research also shows that the private market schemes (such as "cash for care" and profit-making child care) that currently characterize Canadian child care are not only a poor use of public funds but fail to support families and children well.
Canada is among the few developed countries that has no national early childhood policy. While provinces/territories each have their own approaches, these have left most families in all regions of Canada without access to the high quality services that benefit young children. As a result, Canada consistently appears at the bottom of international assessments of ECEC provision.
Sue Delanoy, coordinator of the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada points out that "Canadian families from coast to coast to coast desperately need quality child care. Now, more than ever, Canada needs the national child care system we have been debating for so many years, Conservative government or not".
Code Blue for Child Care vows to ensure that child care remains on the national political agenda until the needs of families and children have been adequately addressed by governments.
Code Blue for Child Care is a cross-Canada campaign made up of child care, labour and women's organizations, social justice and anti-poverty groups. The group's goal is a universal early childhood education and care system for all Canadians.
-reprinted from Good Child Care