On January 29, the provincial and territorial ministers most responsible for early learning and child care are meeting in Ottawa to discuss the issues with CWELCC.  The provincial/territorial ministers will then meet with the federal minister(s) on the following day.  It is rumoured that the first day will give the provinces and territories an opportunity to develop a unified position to present to the federal ministers. 

Child Care Now is organizing a letter to be hand-delivered to this meeting of Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers Most Responsible for Early Learning and Child Care.

B2C2 is very concerned that our governments may be backing away from building a universal and primarily not-for-profit system of child care aligned with the principles set out in the federal Early Learning and Child Care Act and in the first five-year funding agreements between the two levels of government. 

B2C2 has signed the letter, in French and English, which calls on the Ministers to commit to: 

• Increasing public funding to meet the real cost of operating high-quality programs and to expand the availability of licensed child care under the $10aDay child care system; 
• Building a primarily non-profit and public system of child care so that public investments advance high-quality, equitable services, not profit-making. 
• Achieving a maximum parent fee of $10aDay with further fee reductions for low-income families. 
• Investing in the early learning and child care workforce to attract and retain qualified educators. 
• Developing and implementing concrete, proactive child care expansion plans with emphasis on making access more equitable. 
• Publicly and promptly sharing the text of your child care agreements, associated action plans and results, expanding and strengthening the $10aDay child care system.

Time is short, but we urge you all – child care centres, unions, individuals and other organizations – to please send an individual letter to the Ontario Minister of Education and the federal ministers, Patty Hajdu and Anna Gainey, expressing your support for the above demands, and tailored to your own pressing needs. 

• Send or phone your message to Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra: 416-325-2600 [email protected]
• Send or phone your message to federal Jobs & Families Minister Patty Hajdu: 613-996-4792 | [email protected]

For more information, Gordon Cleveland has written a blog on the subject, A Plea to Mark Carney and Provincial/Territorial Governments.