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The loss of $63.5 million in federal child care cash next month and the fall launch of all-day kindergarten for 4- and 5-year olds is creating the “perfect storm” in Ontario’s child care system, advocates warn.

If Queen’s Park doesn’t pick up the loss in Thursday’s budget, at least 7,600 child care subsidies will disappear, fees will rise and parents may not be able to work, they say.

“We are facing a catastrophic collapse of the child care system in this province,” said Andrea Calver of the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care.

“With the loss of those subsidies, centres will have to lay off staff, parent fees will have to rise and many programs will be forced close,” she said Monday.

Premier Dalton McGuinty blamed Ottawa as he faced a grilling on the issue in the Legislature Monday.

“Will he commit to keeping those child care spaces open or is he telling mothers and fathers across the province to quit their jobs and stay home with their kids?” asked NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.

via www.thestar.com

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.

via www.theguardian.pe.ca