Have a Heart: Save Windsor’s Child Care Centres!
What’s New:
Friday, March 5, 12:00 noon:
“March for Windsor’s Kids”, click here for event flyer
Wednesday, February 10th at 7:00 p.m.
Public Meeting: The Campaign To Keep Our City Centres Isn’t Over
All Saints Church, 330 City Hall Square West
For more information call the Stop The Cuts Hotline at 519-965-2634
To see the flyer, click here.
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010:
Windsor City Council to close all municipal child care centres by September 1
On Monday night, Windsor City council voted 5-3 to close 7 city-operated child care centres and 2 satellite sites by September 1, 2010. City council ignored a unanimous deferral request of one month from county council.
“It was an emotional and sometimes angry discussion as council heard from more than 30 delegations, among them anxious parents, worried city workers, labour leaders and poverty advocates. There were tears in the public gallery after the vote.”
To read coverage in the Windsor Star click here
The Amherstberg Echo click here.
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010:
Essex County council voted unanimously to recommend that the city of Windsor postpone city child care centre closures. The county wants a consultation for parents and stakeholders. It wants a joint meeting with Windsor city council to discuss the city centres. And the county wants the opportunity to talk to the province about stabilization funding for child care.
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010:
AM 800 in Windsor did an online poll asking Windsor citizens if they support shutting down city child care centres. The overwhelming majority voted NO!
Tuesday, January 26 at 7:00 p.m:
Open Meeting To Stop Child Care Closures!
Where: Club Alouette, 2418 Central Avenue, Windsor
Please click here to download the campaign flyer.
Related newspaper articles:
March 2010:
Ontario CUPE and Windsor Parents: Walk-the-Walk to Tell Dwight Duncan: “Put Children in the Budget!”
Local News: Windsor rally calls for more child care funding
Windsor Star: Keep daycares open, city urged
February 2010:
Local News: Province must act now to protect
Windor Star: Sadness grips city daycares
Windor News: Daycare closings Inevitable
City of Windsor: Child Care Report (PDF*)
Windsor Star: Council shuts city daycares
Windsor Star: Don’t outsource to private providers
Amherstburg Echo: Municipal daycare faces September closure
Windsor Star: ‘Sadness’ grips city daycares
January 2010:
CUPE: Windsor Council to “Have a Heart” Campaign
Market Wire: OCBCC urged to tell Windsor Council
CBC News: Windsor considers closing city daycares
Canada.com: Loss of Windsor daycare spaces feared
Windsor Star: CUPE, parents prepare to fight Windsor daycare closings
Windsor Star: City of Windsor daycare supporters mobilize
Windsor Star: Hold off on closures of daycares
Windsor Star: County council urges city to defer daycare decision
Child Care Research and Resource Unit: City of Windsor Child Care
Campaign Materials:
Have a Heart: Save Windsor’s Child Care Centres!
Windsor City Council is seriously considering shutting down seven municipal child care programs and two satellites at its Council meeting on February 1. This means children and their families lose their caregivers and our community loses high quality child care services.
Parents want the city to:
● Report on the impacts of city centre closures and alternatives to closure. Make a plan that meets the needs of children and families, which is based on the best available research for supporting our children.
● Meet publicly with provincial officials about implementing the Pascal Report and ensuring that Windsor’s child care funding remains stable.
● Consult with parents, the community and the county before taking the drastic step of closing municipal centres.
For more information contact the Stop The Closures Hotline at 519-965-2634. Friday, January 29th, 2010:
Parents present Councillor Lewenza with Giant Heart.
Click here for the press advisory.
| Click here for information about: - A Windsor child care fact sheet - Fact sheets for Parents - An economic study evaluation on child care - An OCBCC child care lobby flyer |
Take Actions:
● Call or email your local councilor. Tell them “if you vote to shut down child care, you won’t get my vote in November!” Click here to find your councilor.
● Listen to the OCBCC radio ad
● Go to the council meeting on Monday, February 1 at 6 pm. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 350 City Hall Square West. Click here for directions.
●Wear a heart sticker or button on February 1st to show your support for our city child care centres.
● Click here for information on writing a letter to the editor of the Windsor Star. Keep it short and to the point.
●Please click here to sign the Online Petition, to tell Mayor Francis and Windsor City Council that this is not they way to save the city money.
PLEASE, when making your decision on Monday night consider all the families that will have a big impact on your decision.
Please do not close municipal Childcare centres. It’s not a good choice to balance the book on the back of our children. Think about their future are our city, our country in the future.
An excellent decision by Windsor Council. This enables the City to subsidize twice as many more child care spaces. Since when is it a bad thing to allow more people have access to affordable day care?
If municipal child care centres were better and/or cheaper, why did one-quarter of parents decide to not return to the municipal child care centre after the City of Windsor strike?
Seems like it is a done deal in Windsor & Essex County. All 9 Public Daycares closing.
No sign of any further actions at this site anyways.
This is so not right. A true travesty.
Not long ago, public schools were what all taxpayers got behind and supported. It was those private schools that were expected to be self-sufficient if they wanted different programming etc. “Access and fair treatment for all” was the cry. Now it is the public centres that close in favour of these private schools?
Why should my tax money go to support these private schools? Just because they have better lobby groups than our lost public schools? I don’t think so.
Wrong Vincent Clement.
Councillor Brister made that “twice as many spaces” comment without any data whatsoever. Now that the mayor of Windsor is spreading this fallacy, he must open the books on childcare.
The real books on childcare.
Funding is going where it should never go. With the decision to close all public childcare across Windsor & Essex County comes a loss that taxpayers do not know. The ill-conceived “report” to Council did no business analysis. It was merely a token masquerading as a study to justify closure.
Taxpayers trust that hard-earned dollars are helping less- fortunate children & families yet this is the biggest mistake we make as taxpayers.
The privates are chasing wage subsidy & professional development monies and they won’t take our children. They don’t need to take our children to absorb more of our taxpayer money into private profit margins.
And regarding return of children after the mayor & media-manipulated labour dispute – 75% returned. And as far as I know, 25% lost their jobs due to the mayor & media-manipulated labour dispute bringing further hardship to these families.
Please stop spreading poor information as it causes pain to families that have already suffered enough. Unless that is your intention of course.