About the campaign:
Public Interest Alberta has launched a new advocacy campaign for progressive income tax and increased corporate tax in Alberta. Since 2001, Alberta is the only province in Canada that has a single rate of 10% on all taxable income. The campaign makes the connections between taxes and funding important public services like child care.
Excerpts from albertacould.org:
Services we could fund
- Create 10,000 more quality childcare spaces - $26 million
The lack of access to affordable, quality early childhood education and care means many families are trapped paying for very expensive care or are not able to return to work or school. Wait lists at most quality childcare centres are longer than two years, and many smaller communities have few options available to young parents. Even though the federal government continues to give $26 million in support to Alberta for childcare through the Canada Social Transfer, the Alberta conservative government ended the space creation program in 2011 (that provided $1500 for each space that was created) and cut the $7.1 million Childcare Quality Enhancement Grant in 2013. These funds should be targeted to areas with the highest need and not just given to childcare corporations to force out smaller operations.
- Achieve the government's own class size targets for kindergarten to grade 3 - $130 million
The Alberta Commission on Learning recommended a class size target of 17 children for kindergarten to grade 3. Unfortunately only 14 out of 62 school boards are currently meeting this average as the student population has increased by 41,000 children since 2009 but the number of teachers has only increased by 100. Achieving this class size target will help children to develop their full potential as they get more individual attention and additional support for the diverse needs in today's classrooms.