Carol Goar has a terrific piece on Quebec’s success in reducing poverty by 40% over the past ten years. Ten year’s ago, Quebec launched a universal and affordable child care system.
Today in Ontario, parents will pay between $40 and $60 per day for child care.
In Quebec, parents will pay $7 a day.
With more parents able to work, poverty rates have gone down. Wouldn’t that be great to see in Ontario!
To read the full article, please click here.
Columnist Carol Goar examines some of the family-friendly policies in Quebec that have led families to have more children. » Continue reading “Toronto Star: Babies make comeback – except in Canada”
“Parts of Quebec bordering Ontario saw an influx of young families, even though the move involves paying much higher income tax”.
The Economist Magazine has profiled Quebec’s child care program as 2006 saw an 8% jump in the number of births with a further increase of 2.6% in 2007.
Quebec’s first try at increasing the number of children involved one-time cash payments to parents. Noting the the “bucks for babies” scheme did not work, the Economist shows why child care has made Quebec Canada’s most parent-friendly province. To read the full article, please click here.
Quebec’s universal $7 / day child care program takes some of the credit for increasing the birth rate in Quebec. Andrew Chung reports that Quebec families are having more children.
“Quebec’s govenrment has created many program over the last decade to convince parents that they can both work and have children.
Parents may access a vast network of subsidized daycare for $7 a day; there are extensive after school programs; and its parental leave program is much more generous than the federal government provides elsewhere.
The statistics show a large increase in women aged 35 to 44 giving birth, but also a change in that more women in their 20′s are giving birth”
To read the full article, please click here.
From the Globe Article:
“I have my leadership style. I am a woman who works in consensus. I am able to delegate responsibility but I am a woman of action”. » Continue reading “Globe and Mail / CBC’s The Current Interview Pauline Marois”
If Ontario wants to cut child poverty and improve student achievement, it should copy Quebec’s $7-a-day child care system, says the architect of the popular program that began in 1998.
Since then, Quebec’s child poverty rates have dropped by 50 per cent, school test scores have gone from among the lowest to the highest in Canada and the percentage of mothers in the workforce in the province is now the highest, said Parti Québécois Leader Pauline Marois.
To read the full article, click here. » Continue reading “Toronto Star: Copy Quebec daycare, PQ leader says”
October 23, 2008 – Toronto » Continue reading “Pauline Marois, leader of the PQ Honoured as a Champion for Child Care”
From Child Care Watch Newsletter, October 15, 2008
In the 2008 provincial budgets, Quebec allocated $600 million to child care over 5 years. Manitoba allocated $92 million over five years.
Both provinces are making significant, long-term investments to make child care more affordable and available for families.
They have a plan. Ontario needs a plan.
Both provinces took four steps to get started:
Placed a cap on parent fees to make child care affordable. In Quebec parents pay $7 a day. In Manitoba, parents pay $17 a day.In contrast, Ontario parents pay $40 to $65 dollars a day. Many families qualify for a provincial subsidy but tens of thousands of children are on a waiting list because their parents need help paying for child care.
Directly fund child care centres to provide stability in funding.
Significantly increased the salaries of child care staff to ensure educated and committed staff can keep working in child care. In Quebec, salaries went up by 40%, in Manitoba the government has committed to increasing salaries and benefits by 20% over five years.In Ontario, salaries of Early Childhood Educators are among the lowest in Canada. Many trained ECE’s don’t enter the field or leave to look for a job that pays a living wage. Ontario has a crisis in staffing leading to high turnover of staff in child care centres.
Committed to long-term funding for more child care spaces. Over the next 5 years Quebec will add 20,000 child care spaces. In Manitoba will add 6500 child care spaces.Ontario has no plan. The Ontario government doesn’t fund capital funding to help build new not-for-profit child care spaces.
Download our petition to Finance Minister Dwight Duncan.
Download OCBCC’s new factsheet: Ontario Needs A Plan for Early Learning and Child Care: Comparing Ontario with our neighbours – Quebec and Manitoba
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From Child Care Watch Newsletter, October 15, 2008.
Tracy Saarikoski, OCBCC, Madame Marois and Dr. Rachel Langford, Ryerson
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Pauline Marois is the leader of the Parti Québécois. This year marks the 8th year of Child Care Worker and ECE Appreciation Day.
The Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care will present our first award for child care advocacy to Pauline Marois in honour of her work in establishing an affordable child care system in Quebec.
For those of you who are not able to join us in Toronto, the event will be videotaped and we hope to produce more public education materials after her visit!
The event will take place on Wednesday October 22, 7 p.m., Library Building, Room 72, Ryerson University (Gould and Victoria).
For a copy of the flyer, please click - Flyer – October 22, Pauline Marois
