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.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW Who should lead the Liberals? 'None of the above,' poll finds
As questions loom over Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s leadership, a new Nanos Research poll commissioned for CTV News says a quarter of Canadians say none of the potential candidates appeal to them.
Canada's response to Trump deportation plan a key focus of revived cabinet committee
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's promise to launch a mass deportation of millions of undocumented people has the Canadian government looking at its own border.
Canada rent report: What landlords are asking tenants to pay
Average asking rents declined nationally on a year-over-year basis for the first time in more than three years in October, said a report out Thursday.
U.S. election maps: How did 2024 compare to 2020 and 2016?
Though two states have yet to be officially called, the U.S. election map has mostly been settled. How does it compare with the previous two elections?
N.S. school 'deeply sorry' for asking service members not to wear uniforms at Remembrance Day ceremony
An elementary school in the Halifax area has backed away from a request that service members not wear uniforms to the school's Remembrance Day ceremony.
Remembrance Day: What's open and closed in Canada?
While banks and post offices will be closed nationwide on Remembrance Day, shops and businesses could be open depending on where you live in Canada.
BREAKING Judicial recount for Surrey-Guildford confirms B.C. NDP's majority
The B.C. New Democrats have a majority government of 47 seats after a judicial recount in the riding of Surrey-Guildford gave the party's candidate 22 more votes than the provincial Conservatives.
48,584 space heaters recalled in Canada after burn injury in U.S.
Health Canada has announced a recall for electric space heaters over potential fire and burn risks, a notice published Thursday reads.
Israeli soccer fans were attacked in Amsterdam. The violence was condemned as antisemitic
Israeli fans were assaulted after a soccer game in Amsterdam by hordes of young people apparently riled up by calls on social media to target Jewish people, Dutch authorities said Friday. Five people were treated at hospitals and dozens were arrested after the attacks, which were condemned as antisemitic by authorities in Amsterdam, Israel and across Europe.