Issued after we dropped off thousands of petitions to the Ministry of Finance on March 23

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   MEDIA RELEASE                March 23, 2009

“We Won’t Go Backwards”

Child Care Advocates Call for Funding in the Provincial Budget to Prevent Dismantling of Child Care System
Toronto - Without additional funding in Thursday’s Provincial Budget, thousands of child care subsidies will be cut by municipal governments starting in September 2009.

“This year’s Ontario Budget is one of the most important in many years for child care programs. It’s unthinkable that in tough economic times, we would cut existing child care subsidies”, says Tracy Saarikoski, Co-President, Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care and the Executive Director of a not-for-profit child care centre in Sudbury.

Members of the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care delivered thousands of written and on-line petitions to Dwight Duncan calling for additional child care funding in Thursday’s budget.

“Parents won’t stand for cuts to child care subsidies. Child care can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000 a year. It’s the largest expense for most families and can be even larger than a mortgage payment. Not only do we need our child care subsidies in today’s economy but we need to to invest in child care funding to have more affordable child care spaces for children and families”, said Saarikoski.

Child care advocates are calling for the Ontario Government to:

• Save 22,000 child care subsidies threatened by expired federal funds;

• Create 7500 new affordable child care spaces; and

• Meet pay equity obligations that would increase salaries for low paid child care staff. 
 For more information please call:
Andrea Calver, Communications Director, OCBCC    416-538-0628 ext. 4

The Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care (OCBCC) represents the voices of over 500 members including child care centres and individuals advocating for universally accessible, high quality, non-profit child care in Ontario.