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"We need federal leadership to ensure there is affordable quality child care across the country — and that only happens with increased, directed funding." — Larry Brown, NUPGE President
Stephanie Smith, BCGEU President
Ottawa (20 Nov. 2018) — November 20 is celebrated as National Child Day, so it is fitting that child care supporters and advocates are on Parliament Hill today to ask federal representatives to become champions of child care.
Parliamentarians must make child care a priority
The lobby, organized by Child Care Now, and its provincial counterparts, is focusing on getting commitments from MPs and Senators to play a positive role in building a publicly-funded and managed system of child care in Canada. MPs and Senators are also being asked to support more federal spending on child care over the next decade that is better directed. The standard international benchmark for child care funding is 1 per cent of GDP. Canada spends only about 0.3 per cent of the GDP on child care.
"Parliamentarians should be thinking about how hard it is for families to cope with the rising cost of child care," said Larry Brown, President of the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE). "We have a patchwork system that isn't working for parents, or for those who work in the sector."
"We need federal leadership to ensure there is affordable quality child care across the country — and that only happens with increased, directed funding," said Brown.
How you can help make child care a priority
Child care supporters are being encouraged to contact their MPs and ask them to make child care funding a priority.
You can tweet by clicking here to find your MP’s Twitter handle, then use a tweet like this one:
- All children should have access to affordable high-quality child care. Will you be the #childcarechampion to help make it happen? @[insertMP]
You can also sign the petition and share it with your friends, family and coworkers. This petition will be delivered directly to the Office of the Prime Minister leading up to the 2019 federal election.