August 7th, 2020

Ford should match federal funds for child care: NDP

SCARBOROUGH — Doly Begum, NDP Child Care critic, released the following statement in response to the provincial government announcing that federal funding, up to $230 million, will go towards restarting child care:

“The federal contribution to re-opening Ontario’s child care centres is simply not enough to support the thousands of centres across Ontario struggling to reopen safely. The Ford government must pitch in and, at a minimum, match the federal funding dollar-for-dollar, to bring that funding up to a level that helps centres hire more ECEs, get additional spaces in place and ensure cohorts are smaller and safer. Centres also need funding to stabilize after many lost significant revenue during the pandemic.

Ford's child care announcement failed to address the sector's desperate need for more space, more staff and smaller cohorts, to ensure children and staff are safe.

At last count, only about 40 per cent of child care centres were operational, and only at reduced capacity. That means parents — especially women — won't be able to go back to work. Families won’t recover, and Ontario will not have an economic recovery, until that problem is solved.”