Olivia Chow, MP

Dear parents concerned about child care..

February 10, 2009

Dear parents,

2009 should have been the year the federal government finally provided long-term, secure funding for early childhood education and child care. Instead, the Conservative government’s 2009 Federal Budget, supported by the Liberals, contains no help for child care for working Canadians. As a result, parents in Toronto will be facing a reduction of 6000 child care spaces this coming September unless other funding can be found.

The 2009 Federal Budget contains:

• No money to create child care spaces
• No income support benefit for 40 percent of women who fall in the lowest income bracket
• “Consultation” on maternal and parental benefits – but with no goals or timelines
• No increase in the National Child Benefit Supplement or their Canada Child Tax Benefit for children from the poorest families

High-quality, universally-available child care that all Canadians can afford is certainly feasible, and never has it been more important than these troubled economic times.  But instead Canada will continue to fail nine out of ten UNICEF benchmarks for early childhood education.

New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton and I will continue to advocate for secure long term investment in early learning and child care. To see the action we have been taking in Parliament and more information on what you can do to push for universal, affordable, and high quality child care service, please visit my website, www.oliviachow.ca.

Yours,

-Olivia