The Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care continues to play a leading role in the campaign for high quality and affordable public child care in Ontario. Last year, the OCBCC was a key player in winning a commitment from the McGuinty government to replace the federal child care money that was expiring. This year, together with the Ontario Federation of Labour, it has launched a new campaign Child Care: Ontario Can’t Work Without It.
This joint campaign is aimed at securing funding to help stabilize child care programs for younger children. The preschool programs were already under pressure due to financial uncertainties and the government’s decision to focus on implementing full day learning for four- and five-year olds has only added to those challenges. The sector is now increasingly threatened by the loss of experienced staff, higher parent fees, and the closure of centres.
Between now and early March, the OCBCC and OFL will hold a series of community meetings together with local organizations concerned about child care. The goal is to build community based action and advocacy leading up to the provincial budget and the election next fall.
Part of the campaign also involves a Week of Action from February 14-18, 2011. A copy of the schedule for the Week of Action is attached, along with the campaign fact sheet and ideas for action.
The current list of communities with scheduled meetings is Belleville, Peterborough, Hamilton, Thunder Bay, Windsor, London, Kitchener-Waterloo, Sudbury, and Ottawa. Details on the dates and location for meetings can be found on the OCBCC website at http://www.childcareontario.org/?p=208
Child care is an important issue for our members. They are affected as ECEs working in FDL programs, as parents and as community members. |
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