CHILD CARE CRISIS IN BC
CCCABC-CCCAAC OTTAWA 22 Feb 07
As many of you know, the child care situation in BC is in crisis. On Jan 5, 2007 BC announced new child care cuts of up to $35 million annually and leading to increases in fees, even longer waiting lists, and further erosion in quality and accessibility. Families, child care providers and communities of BC are outraged and mobilizing like never before. They are saying ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. You can see a calendar of protests at http://www.bcgeu.bc.ca/campaigns/child_care They are demanding full restoration of child care funds and a provincial commitment to build a child care system.
Don’t let what is happening in BC happen in your province!
Tell your Premiers that:
- They need to let BC’s premier Gordon Campbell know that his actions undermine every province’s ability to build a system for all of Canada’s children.
- With or without federal funds, the provinces are accountable for building a system.
- If they follow BC’s lead and cut child care – they will face the same community outrage.
While our push for leadership and funding on child care at the federal level remains, here is the bottom line:
Our message to all Premiers starts simply: Families hold you accountable for delivering the quality child care services they need and for which you have the jurisdictional responsibility. If you trade away dedicated child care dollars in the ongoing fiscal imbalance discussions, you will have failed families and children, just like the federal government.
To find out how contact your Premier, follow the link below:
http://canadaonline.about.com/cs/premiers/a/writepremiers.htm
For more information on the BC crisis,
- download the full release on the topic or
- visit the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC’s website
