Meagre child care funds, 2000 says

Community Action, June 16, 2003

OTTAWA -- Campaign 2000 has expressed "profound disappointment" with monies allocated for childcare and early learning in the recent federal budget saying they are "dubious about how the meagre funds allocated in the first two years will benefit children and families on the ground."

In a letter written to Minister of Finance John Manley, the organization commends the government for recognizing child care and early learning by making it a line item in the recent federal budget and supported the Multilateral Agreement of Early Learning and Care as a "first step" towards a national child care program.

Campaign 2000 also supports the federal government's stand that federal funds for child care transferred to the provinces and territories must be spent only on regulated and monitored child care and that adequate public reporting will be required.

However, the organization condemns the federal government for skewing allocated child care funds to the latter part of the five-year funding period instead of providing a "large enough infusion of federal funds to provide both provincial enthusiasm for the architecture and momentum to take the policy into the future."

Describing the allocation over the five-year span as inadequate to meet the needs of Canada's almost five million children, Campaign 2000 says the $25 million allocated in the first year and $75 million for the second year "scarcely reflect the importance of child care." The organization says about $10 billion annually or about 1% of GDP is needed to fund a mature child care and early learning system in Canada.