From “Shall” to “May” – It is indeed a sad, sad day for Island children and families

Today Bill 47 was passed by Government in the PEI legislature. This Bill makes a simple wording change (replacing "shall" with "may") in the Child Care Facilities Act.  This change will now allow the Child Care Facilities Board to choose NOT to issue child care license to an applicant who applies for licensing to operate a child care facility on the Island.  This basically gives the Board full power to determine who, how and where a new child care program may be operated.  It also protects existing child care programs that are already licensed (many of whom offer low quality child care) from any form of competition.  This will result in poor quality programs being protected and entrenched within the existing child care system.  It will also reduce program choice for many families.

For more than 2 years I have been actively working with Island families and professional colleagues to prevent a change such as this from passing through the PEI legislature.  Child care choice and quality for Island families and their children has been seriously compromised today.  It is indeed a sad, sad day for Prince Edward Island families with children who currently (or in the future will need to) access child care and early learning programs.

SECTION 1 amends a provision of the Child Care Facilities Act
regarding the Child Care Facilities Board issuing licenses for the
operation of child care facilities by referencing the application process
and changing the word “shall” to the word “may”.