Moms and educators speak out against child care funding cuts at Queen's Park

TORONTO, May 7, 2019 /CNW/ - More than 50 moms and Early Childhood Educators are at Queen's Park today to speak out against the Ford government's cuts to child care funding.

With 46 out of 47 municipalities across Ontario facing direct cuts to child care funding, families in every part of the province will feel the pain.

Vanessa Kelly, a mom of three children from Education Minister Lisa Thompson's riding of Huron-Bruce drove from Goderich to deliver a letter to the Minister.

"We have a child care crisis in Huron-Bruce. Child care needs more investment from the provincial government, not less." said Kelly.  "Minister Thompson: your government's cuts will cost the communities of Huron-Bruce millions. It will make child care harder to access, more expensive and put young children and families at risk."

Sheila Olan-Maclean from Compass Early Learning and Child Care in Peterborough echoed Kelly's concerns.

"Funding cuts and sweeping changes to funding formulas will create higher fees for families and fewer spaces as a result of child care program closures. With over 900 families on our waitlists in Peterborough, this is sad news indeed." said Maclean.

The Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care has analyzed the PC government's allocations to child care and compared them to previous years, revealing over $80 million in direct funding cuts.

But the Coalition is warning families to brace for impact, because once municipalities factor in other policy changes from the Ford government – as the City of Toronto has – the effect of the cuts could be far greater.

"Municipalities right across Ontario are coming to grips with the impact of these child care cuts and policy changes." said Carolyn Ferns, Policy Coordinator for the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care.

"If the government doesn't reverse course now, we will see subsidies frozen, services cut, and parent fees go through the roof. This is taking Ontario child care in entirely the wrong direction." said Ferns.

SOURCE Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)

Carolyn Ferns, Policy Coordinator, Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, [e-mail], Phone [phone] x 4 (office) or 647-218-1275 (cell)