EXCERPTS
Lambton Council must act responsibly and keep Coronation Park Day Nursery open for current and future generations of children from the Lambton community, said the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), representing 38 early childhood educators (ECEs) at Coronation Park.
"This is a choice between investing in our children's future or shutting down learning opportunities for our young ones," said Mary Aikin, president of CUPE 2926. "There is a reason why previous councils have invested in Coronation for 42 years because they believed in our community and our children's future. This council will have a chance to show on Wednesday that, they too, believe in the community they serve by voting to keep Coronation Park open."
Due to underfunding, Coronation Park's future will be on the line Wednesday, June 4, when council will vote on a proposal by management to shut down the child care centre.
"It would be irresponsible for council to close Coronation Park without trying to secure more funding from the province for our children and the community they serve," said Sarah Tait, a registered early childhood educator at Coronation Park. "The funding picture may change after next week's election, and we are urging councillors to do the right thing and work towards finding the funding we need to secure our children's future."
"The provincial election is next Thursday and municipal elections are coming in the fall," said Aikin. "The community will be watching to see who will be voting to invest in children and their community, and residents will know who voted to invest in child care and who did not. Residents will ask - what did my councillor do to save Coronation Park?"
"Our members work hard to ensure children in our care have the best that we can offer," concluded Tait. "We hope that our elected leaders will do the same and vote to ensure our children have the best in quality child care and keep Coronation open. We want to work with council to lobby the provincial government for the funding our community deserves."
- reprinted from Market Wired