Horgan vows help is on the way for families needing child care
Thousands of new child care spaces will be available in the next three years under an NDP government, leader John Horgan pledged Wednesday, as he reiterated his campaign promise of $10-a-day daycare.
But the plan, which would cost the government $1.5 billion a year once fully implemented, will take 10 years to put in place, meaning many families in B.C. now struggling to find affordable quality child care won’t reap the full benefits.
And the NDP and the B.C. Greens still have to form a government, which they are expected to do through a confidence vote after Liberal Premier Christy Clark recalls the legislature on June 22.
Horgan said the first step is to create 22,000 new child care spaces in B.C. over three years, increasing to 66,000 spaces within five years.
Another priority will be to train more early childhood educators.
He did not say when the $10-aday cap will be in place.
“If you listen to the stories we’ve heard today, the big challenge is finding spaces,” Horgan told reporters at a Vancouver community centre Wednesday against the backdrop of parents and children at a playground.
Waiting lists of up to 14 months long are unacceptable, he added.
“It’s critically important to our economy that we get moving to ensure we are providing quality, affordable, accessible child care.”
The NDP platform has calculated the cost of the plan up to 2019-20: It’ll require spending $175 million in 2017-18, $280 million in 2018-19, and $400 million in 2019-20. But Horgan said he can’t provide a figure on the cost over the full 10 years.
It’s also unclear where the money will come from.
Horgan had said it will be paid for in part by reinstating an increase on the income tax rate of the top two per cent of earners. This will bring in $412 million over three fiscal years. An NDP government could also dip into the province’s $730-million surplus in the last fiscal year, Horgan said during the campaign. In the initial stages, however, the cost of building new spaces will be drawn from different ministries that already handle child care.
“The first order of business is to aggregate all the child care activities within the government (ministries) ... and figure out what we’ve got, where we go from there,” Horgan said.
Horgan said he plans to stick to the $10-a-day plan despite the fact his party and the Greens, which have struck a power-sharing pact, have different visions for the future of child care in B.C.
The NDP has promised $10 a day for full-time child care, $7 a day for part-time care, and free child care for families making under $40,000 a year. Once fully implemented, subsidized child care would be available for children up to age 12.
The Greens campaigned for free child care, a $4.2-billion program phased in over four years.
Green party Leader Andrew Weaver suggested there may be room for negotiations on the issue, saying in a statement that the $10-a-day plan “is the position that the NDP will start with in their consultations with us.”
Sharon Gregson of the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C., the group behind the $10-a-day child care plan, said Wednesday was a “momentous occasion.”
“To have a provincial leader who is about to be premier commit to implementing this plan is a huge day for families across the province and for employers,” she said.
Stephanie Doherty and her husband have struggled with finding safe, affordable child-care spaces for their kids, 15-month-old Cohen and Jonah, 3.
They had been on a waiting list since before Jonah was born, but couldn’t find child care that was safe, adequately staffed, or could accommodate both kids.
They cut back on their work hours and hired a nanny for two days at the cost of $200 a day to make it work. On Tuesday, Doherty was laid off from her job because her employer couldn’t deal with her part-time hours.
“I’m happy to spend the time with (my kids), but this wasn’t in our plan,” Doherty said. “This wouldn’t have been the way we would have chosen to manage child care had we had safe, affordable options.”
The $10-a-day program might be too late for her kids, she said, but it’s the first real progress made on the issue.
“It’s a big project no one has been doing anything about for a really long time,” she said. “I’m just glad to see the ball start to roll.”