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Open letter to the Minister of Education

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Author: 
Coalition of Child Care Advocates of British Columbia
Format: 
Press release
Publication Date: 
6 Jul 2010
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Excerpts from the letter:

It was with shock and disbelief that the Coalition of Child Care Advocates heard BC's Minister of Education urge Vancouver's Board of Education to generate profit by raising child care rents by $1.5 million.

While child care is the mandate of senior levels of government, local government also has a significant role to play in supporting the development and sustainability of child care spaces and a child care system in British Columbia.

Shamefully, in 2007, the federal government reneged on its responsibility to address Canada's failing grade on child care when it cancelled the federal/provincial child care agreement that began to build a child care system Canadians could be proud of.

And, since 2001, BC cut its own child care spending and consistently ignored the need for a comprehensive plan to address BC's child care crisis.

In Vancouver, only the city's long-standing and substantive child care commitment has helped ensure some quality child care programs remain.

These commitments to the city's children and families have come from City of Vancouver Councils, past and present, the Park Board and the Vancouver Board of Education.

....

British Columbia, and indeed Canada, lag far, far behind other developed countries in levels of government investment in early care and learning programs and in children's access to these programs. To fix this, it is imperative that municipal, provincial and federal governments work together to ensure children have access to quality child care spaces, parent's fees are affordable and staff earn wages commensurate with their responsibility and training.

We strongly encourage the Minister to cease her calls to cover her government's under funding of education by raising child care rental rates. And, we call on other Boards of Education to follow Vancouver's lead and resist provincial pressure to make profit off children and working families.