New Democrats Hold Harper Conservatives to Account and Continue to Work Hard for Canadian Families May 2, 2012 OTTAWA – A year after the 2011 election, my New Democrat colleagues and I continue to stand up for Canadians every day as the Official Opposition. Pushing back against unjust cuts, unethical behaviour, government inaction and Conservative mismanagment, [...]

MP Olivia Chow, New Democrats Child Care Critic, is calling on Stephen Harper’s Conservatives to establish and fund a national child care program, in the wake of the recent tragic death of a child while in unregulated care.  Chow pointed out that with long waiting lists for affordable, high quality and licensed early learning and [...]

Thursday, September 23, 2010     Ms. Olivia Chow (Trinity—Spadina, NDP): Mr. Speaker, during a recent Kensington market pedestrian Sunday, hundreds of Toronto residents signed two giant posters which I took to Parliament Hill today. The good people of Trinity—Spadina are calling on the government to reconsider its plan to spend $16 billion on fighter jets. Instead [...]

Speaking of family, I was able to spend some time this past summer in Temagami with Jack and baby Beatrice. After waiting for almost 2 years, my step daughter Sarah finally got a space for Beatrice at an excellent downtown, non-profit, school based, child care centre. But the wait should not have to be so long, [...]

Olivia Chow recently met with childcare advocates from across the country at a Mother’s Day rally on Parliament Hill. The rally was held to call on the Government to adopt a national childcare plan.

March 17, 2010   Ms. Olivia Chow (Trinity—Spadina, NDP):       Mr. Speaker, last night on YouTube, the Prime Minister was reminded that his failed Conservative child care policy is “an insult to any family that actually relies on it”.     The government’s failure is so noticeable that international organizations such as the OECD and UNICEF rank [...]

Dear friends. The latest bi-annual report by the Childcare Resource and Research Unit highlighted how Canada literally cannot work without child care. More mothers are working while the growth of childcare spaces is slowing. These trends are bad for children, bad for families, and bad for the economy. Click here for the report highlights, and [...]

OTTAWA – More than 75 percent of Canadian mothers are in the work force but only 20 percent of children under five years old, have access to high-quality, affordable and accessible child care and early learning, says New Democrat Child Care Critic Olivia Chow. “Canada literally cannot work without child care,” said Chow.  “Why aren’t [...]

Olivia visited one of the many local child care centres just in time for snacks and play. View the whole Photo Set Here

June 15, 2009 – Ottawa Ms. Olivia Chow (Trinity—Spadina, NDP): Mr. Speaker, today the Pascal report laid out an ambitious plan for seamless day learning for children. The first six years of a child’s life is the most important time for development, yet Canada consistently places last in all international reports in its investment in [...]

Dear Friends, Throughout the winter I visited child care centres in my riding and heard stories from parents and child care workers that show why Canada desperately needs a universal child care system. I want to report some of my findings to you and share a vision of an ideal model.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE APRIL 29, 2009 OTTAWA – Today, New Democrats took a major step forward for children and working families through the reintroduction of landmark legislation designed to build quality childcare for future generations. New Democrat Childcare Critic Olivia Chow (Trinity—Spadina) reintroduced The Early Learning and Child Care Act in the House of Commons [...]

Thursday, May 21, 2009, from 6:00 – 8:30 pm St. Stephen’s Community House, 91 Bellevue Avenue (1 block south of College)

The Chair: We’re going to move to Ms. Chow, now, for seven minutes. Ms. Olivia Chow (Trinity—Spadina, NDP): April 1st is coming, and Canadian parents that receive the universal child care allowance will soon have to pay out $300 million in taxes on what they have received. Some of them will have difficulty doing so.

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 [...]