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From the Toronto Star Editorial, to read the full editorial, please click here.
"The provincial government has come through with $18 million to save 8,500 daycare spaces that were about to close because of expiring federal funding. That is good news.
But as welcome as Tuesday's announcement is, the problem has not been solved. The provincial funding is only a reprieve, not a long term solution. And it just maintains the existing number of affordable child care spaces when what is needed is a dramatic expansion, with 15,000 families in Toronto alone on the wait list.
On these bigger issues Ontario's answer remains disappointingly the same: "We continue to call on the federal government to restore funding for child care in Ontario."
...
Our neighbouring province has not waited for Ottawa. Quebec charges just $7 a day for daycare and is pumping hundreds of millions into expansion plans.
Premier Dalton McGuinty once had big plans. During the 2003 election, he promised $300 million for daycare expansion "to make sure parents have access to affordable, quality child care." Declared the Liberal platform: "Too many parents who want to work cannot find child care they can trust and afford. We all lose when this happens."
We're still losing. Ontario's $18 million addresses the immediate crisis, but we need more than that from our provincial government."