Webinar
Join Child Care Now for a special online webinar to conclude the Ten Days of Action! This public event will explore the economic and social impact of Canada’s $10-a-Day Child Care Plan.
When: December 3rd, 7:00 – 8:00 PM Eastern Time
Where: Zoom
Simultaneous French interpretation available
This is a unique opportunity to reflect on the successes and challenges of implementing $10-a-Day child care and to discuss how we can work together to strengthen and expand this transformative initiative beyond the Ten Days of Action.
View slides from Dr. Jim Stanford’s presentation
Featured program
Keynote presentation
Dr. Jim Stanford, Economist and Director of the Centre for Future Work, will share insights from his newly released report on the program’s economic benefits.
Panel discussion
Moderated by Laurie Monsebraaten, former Social Justice Reporter for the Toronto Star, this conversation will bring together a panel of diverse voices to explore the realities of implementing this ambitious program.
Learn more about our speakers below!
Speaker bios
Laurie Monsebraaten – former Social Justice Reporter for the Toronto Star
Laurie Monsebraaten is a former Social Justice Reporter for the Toronto Star, where she worked for almost 40 years writing about poverty, inequality and social programs, including welfare, affordable housing, child care, Children’s Aid, and disability support. Her work has received six National Newspaper Award nominations and three Michener Award citations of merit for public service journalism. In retirement, she serves on several community boards dedicated to social justice initiatives.
Jim Stanford – Economist and Director, Centre for Future Work
Jim Stanford is Economist and Director of the Centre for Future Work, a labour economics think tank based in Vancouver, B.C. Jim is one of Canada’s best-known economists. He served for over 20 years as Economist and Director of Policy with Unifor, Canada’s largest private-sector trade union (formerly the Canadian Auto Workers). He is quoted frequently in the print and broadcast media, and contributes regular commentaries to the Toronto Star, CTV News Channel, and Corus Radio. He is also the Harold Innis Industry Professor in Economics at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, and an Honorary Professor in the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney. Jim received his Ph.D. in Economics from the New School for Social Research in New York. He also holds an M.Phil. in Economics from Cambridge University, and a B.A. (Hons.) in Economics from the University of Calgary.
Viveca Ellis – Executive Director, Centre for Family Equity
Viveca is the executive director of the Centre for Family Equity and a founding member of the organization. In 2014, she banded together with other lone mothers impacted by poverty and lack of access to legal aid, housing, and child care, to mobilize grassroots leaders and advocate for public policy solutions to family poverty in BC. The Centre for Family Equity is a membership-based organization of low-income parents and caregivers carrying out community-engaged research, legal action, and law reform, proposing evidence-based public policy solutions to address family poverty in BC.
Michele Lupa – Executive Director, Canadian Mothercraft Society
Michele Lupa is the Executive Director of the Canadian Mothercraft Society, an internationally recognized NGO that delivers programs and services to families with children under the age of six, including: prenatal outreach and support to vulnerable women, licensed child care, family support programs, special needs support and infant/early childhood mental health. Mothercraft also operates a college delivering post-secondary education and professional development training to the child care and early years sector in Toronto. Over the course of her 25-year career, Michele has held front-line, management and executive roles in a wide range of community service organizations – from early childhood development and family support to social housing, community development and mental health. She is an active participant in policy and system-level activities locally, provincially and federally on behalf of Mothercraft and the communities it serves.
Thơ Nguyễn – RECE & Policy and Outreach Coordinator, Child Care Now
Thơ Nguyễn is a dedicated Registered Early Childhood Educator with experience in both regulated and informal child care settings in Toronto and currently the Policy and Outreach Coordinator at Child Care Now, working on the Educators Matter: Workforce Policy for Quality Early Learning and Child Care project. As a racialized immigrant and settler on Indigenous land, Thơ is committed to challenging policies rooted in colonial ideologies that commodify care and rely on the exploitation of foreign labour for care work. Thơ has worked at the Childcare Resource and Research Unit and the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario (AECEO) on various projects focused on Canada-wide ELCC governance, public delivery, equitable access, and anti-racism within the ELCC sector. Thơ is the co-lead of the Early Years Rise Up TO, an AECEO’s Toronto-based CARE Collective advocating for decent work in child care. Additionally, Thơ serves on the Advisory Council of the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care.