BC NDP promote child-care plan while critics point to unfulfilled promises

Child care was front and centre Monday for the BC NDP, its leader David Eby promoting the party's campaign promises.

“The school day is just a portion of the day, and your kids still need care outside of those hours,” said Eby on Monday.

The NDP plan calls for $500 million over two years to build more child-care facilities, an educational assistant for all classes Kindergarten through Grade 3, a mental health counselor at all schools, and expanding onsite before and after school child care.

“The capital budget is great news,” said Sharon Gregson with the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C. “We need more spaces, we need them to be long-term public assets.”

Still, Gregson says the plan doesn’t go far enough.

“Still not enough to meet the demand, and of course the growing demand as more folks move to our province,” said Gregson on Monday.

She wants to see a pay grid implemented—like other provinces have done—to increase wages and attract more badly needed early childhood educators.

“We need to recruit and retain more qualified folks to work in all those new child-care programs.”

The BC Conservatives also rolled out a daycare plan last week, pledging to keep $10-a-day care, prioritize single moms and increase private sector involvement, and noted the NDP promised universal $10- a-day daycare within 10 years in the last two elections—a goal far from fulfilled.

“This is an NDP government that has now campaigned three times in a row on actually providing child care,” said Conservative candidate for Surrey-White Rock, Trevor Halford. “Three campaigns they’ve failed, and one of the main reasons for this is they continue to shut out the child-care providers that are actually working in the private sector.”

Approximately 10 per cent of licensed daycares are now $10 a day, but fees at most daycares have gone down. Still, wait lists are common and many young families continue to pay hundreds of dollars a month.

“I think it fits into the narrative of affordability – I think one of the overarching narratives of this campaign is affordability,” said Dan Reeves, a political scientist at Camosun College.

Meaning, expect to hear more about each party's plan to make child care more accessible and affordable over the next 12 days.