The recent school board decision to serve notice to four local daycares currently operating in schools has cast the spotlight on the state of Child Care in BC.
During Question Period today, Michael asked the Minister of Children and Family Development and Minister Responsible for Child Care, Mary Polak to explain this sad state of affairs.
Below is a draft transcript of their exchange and as always the official Hansard will be posted when it’s available.
2010 Legislative Session: Second Session, 39th Parliament
HANSARD
The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.
Official Report of
DEBATES OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
(Hansard)
MONDAY, MARCH 29, 2010
Afternoon Sitting
Volume 12, Number 7
Oral Questions
CHILD CARE SPACES IN
MAPLE RIDGE SCHOOLS
M. Sather: Four day cares in schools in Maple Ridge are closing. A hundred kids and their parents are going to be left without day care. Two of those schools are closing. The other two are kicking the day cares out to make room for all-day kindergarten. Can the minister responsible for child care explain to this House why her government is forcing families to lose their day care?
Hon. M. Polak: The member has answered part of the question. We have school buildings that are closing, and therefore, the day cares will not be there. We continue to
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invest in child care in record amounts. We are investing this year. We have now more licensed spaces than we have ever had in this province — 90,000.
We are spending this year upwards of $300 million to support child care in British Columbia. I’m not going to make any apologies for the fact that, with an investment of $35 million, we’ve increased the number of spaces by 6,500 since 2001.
Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.
M. Sather: I’m glad the minister acknowledged the problem. Schools are closing.
Paul Marsden’s three-year-old daughter goes to day care at Riverside Elementary. That school is closing. She’s losing her day care. The day care provider says: “The future is bleak.”
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members.
M. Sather: “We may not have a business. There’s no place for these kids to go to.”
I want to know what the minister is going to do to assist Paul and the other parents who are losing their day care under the watch of this government.
Hon. M. Polak: Unlike the member opposite, we choose to invest in children, not in empty classrooms. With an investment of $35 million….
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Minister, just take your seat for a second.
Continue, Minister.
Hon. M. Polak: With an investment of $35 million, we have increased the number of child care spaces in British Columbia by 6,500 since 2001, and 500 of those were created in the 2008-2009 year alone.
Now we’re expanding to have StrongStart centres in 300 different schools across the province. StrongStart centres didn’t even exist when that government was in power, but we’ve brought them in to invest in children, and $58 million in full-day kindergarten.
Across government we’re going to spend a billion dollars this year on early childhood development, child care and services for children and youth with special needs, an investment that is unprecedented in the history of the province.
You know I had the toughest time going back to work after my 2nd baby and finding excellent preschool probably was the single biggest reason.