Advocates urge new government to commit to universal, affordable child care

TORONTO, Oct. 20, 2015 /CNW/ - The Vote Child Care 2015 campaign is happy to see that a majority of voters supported political parties that understand the importance of universal, affordable, high-quality child care. The campaign, led by the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada, will work with the Liberal government, the NDP and other progressive MPs willing to make the dream of a national child care program a reality for all Canadians.

During the election, Vote Child Care 2015 collected thousands of signatures on a pledge, urging the federal government to:

• Commit to long-term sustained federal funding for and leadership on child care.
• Come to the table with the provinces, territories, and Indigenous communities ready to build a public, non-profit system that we can count on.

The Liberals said they would call a meeting within first 100 days to begin developing a new National Early Learning and Child Care Framework in collaboration with provinces, territories and Indigenous communities. The Vote Child Care campaign is committed to holding them to this promise and also working with progressive MPs to make it happen.

• Watch: A vision for universal child care
• Read: What child care could look like in the year 2020 (PDF)

The Vote Child Care 2015 campaign set out with the aim of keeping child care on the political agenda and making it a vote-determining issue for Canadians. During the election campaign, we saw three out of four major political parties release child care platforms, each one with promises to support Canadian families with better child care.

"The hard work starts now as we must come together and hold the new government to their commitment of building a national early learning and child care framework," said Carolyn Ferns, Public Policy and Government Relations Coordinator at the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care. "In the coming months, we will continue to advocate strongly for the universal, affordable, quality non-profit child care system that all parents and children deserve."

SOURCE Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada

Image with caption: "Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada (CNW Group/Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20151020_C8916_PHOTO_EN_525081.jpg

For more information or to book interviews: Carolyn Ferns, Toronto, 647-218-1275, [email protected]; Dominique Arbez, Winnipeg (FR), 204-479-1080, [email protected]