Opposition Leader Olive Crane says it’s time for the provincial government to commit the necessary funding and make quality child care in this province a priority.
“I have been inundated with calls from parents who have been told that their child care costs could be going up by as much as $100 per month. I have been told by operators of our early childhood development centres that they will not be able to continue to operate without some kind of assistance.”
Crane said parents of young children and early childhood development centres are at a crisis point.
“I have heard that several centres have already notified parents about this crisis including concerns about core funding, decreased numbers of children and a lack of well-trained educators.”
Crane said parents are already paying rates of $145 per week for a 22-month-old child, some $200 per week for an infant and most child care facilities will be increasing those rates come next September.
“If you have two children currently in the child care system you could be paying $1,200 per month or more for child care. Parents are telling me they simply cannot afford these high costs, and if rates rise in September, many child care facilities will close.”
The Opposition leader said Prince Edward Island leads the country with the highest percentage of women with young children who are in the workforce.
“Yet, provincial contributions for early childhood education spaces in our province are the lowest in the Atlantic region and the second-lowest in Canada,” said Crane.
“That needs to change. Parents and Islanders would reasonably have assumed that early childhood development facilities would have been a key component of these plans, yet, here we are, three years into this government’s mandate and child care in this province is in total chaos.”
Crane called for government to announce immediate funding to deal with the current crisis and to ensure an equitable, affordable and accessible comprehensive child care for Islanders.
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