EXCERPTS
Dear Leaders and Candidates:
We are moms.
We are working moms. We are retired moms. We are grandmoms. We are moms-to-be. We are moms who work at home and moms who work from home.
We are moms who want to go to work.
We are also moms who are out of work.
Covid has affected all parts of the Canadian workforce - but working women more than most. Women were forced to leave the labour force in such numbers that participation dropped to a 30-year low. As Canada recovers, we’re in real danger of losing the critical economic contribution of working moms - and that’s something that affects all Canadians.
Moms are an essential part of our country’s economy. And moms are a critical part of our country’s immediate economic recovery. It’s simple: Canada won’t return to pre-Covid prosperity levels if moms can’t go to work. And moms can’t go to work without better childcare. Any economic recovery plan is no plan at all unless it includes a childcare plan.
But there aren't enough childcare spots in Canada right now, and the spots we do have cost too much. Canada needs a game-changing national childcare plan - which is more than a tax rebate, and more than lip-service. It’s a guaranteed low, national, daily rate - and a commitment to add at least a hundred thousand more quality spaces.
We call on every party and every candidate to commit to accessible and affordable childcare for all.
We would say, 'it's time' but it's been 'time' for a long time.
Don't mess with moms. Get it done.
Signed,
Kate Graham, Professor and Author
Armine Yalnizyan, Canadian Economist
Alana Powell, Childcare Advocate
Cindy Blackstock, Child Welfare Advocate
Morna Ballantyne, Childcare Advocate
Melissa Grelo, TV Host
Carolyn Ferns, Childcare Advocate
Genesa Greening, Canadian Business Leader
Hon. Kathleen Wynne, Former Premier of Ontario
Farrah Khan, Gender Justice Advocate
Constance Backhouse, Canadian Scholar and Historian
Lorna Marsden Academic, former University President and Former Senator
Sasha Exeter, Creator and Advocate
Heather Munroe-Blum, Academic and Businesswoman
Kim Furlong, Business Leader
Sarah Boesveld, Advocate
Hon. Margaret McCuaig Boyd, Former MLA and Minister of Energy of Alberta
Tiffany Gooch, Writer and Political Commentator
Daphne Gilbert, Professor of Law
Hon. Sheila Copps, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada
Penny Collenette, Lawyer and human rights advocate
Jennifer Flanagan, CEO
Yola Ventresca, Human Rights Lawyer
Pamela Jeffery, Founder Women's Executive Netowrk
Sharon Scholzberg-Gray, Lawyer and Health Policy Advocate
Amanda Alvaro, Political Commentator and Entrepreneur
Jean Yoon, Actor
Amber MacArthur, TV Personality
Adrian Macdonald, Member of the advisory board of the Trudeau Centre for Peace, Conflict, and Justice
Ani Hotoyan-Joly, Hospital Board Member and CPA
Clare Beckton, Author and Women's Leadership Advocate
Sangita Patel, TV Host
Dr. Kate Bezanson, Professor and Assoc. Dean
Lana Payne, Trade Unionist
Jodi Heimpel Butts, Board Director and Lawyer
Bea Bruske, Activist and Worker's Advocate
Sandra Garossino, Former Crown Prosecutor and Media Commentator
Reva Seth, Author
Carly Watters, Literary Agent
Hannah Sung, Media Veteran and Asper Fellow
Kathleen Monk, Political Commentator
Lisa Kirbie, Executive
Sarah Elder-Chamanara, Feminist and Advocate
Tara Slone, Canadian Vocalist
Supriya Dwivedi, Political Commentator
Christina Smith, Mayor of Westmount
Hon. Deb Matthews, Former Deputy Premier Ontario
Katie Reiach, Entrepreneur and TV Host
Mary Tersigni-Paltrinieri, Executive Director
Sheena Russell, Entrepreneur
Susan Holt, Chief Growth Officer
Brittney Kerr, Executive
Lynne Oreck-Werner, Former Foundation Head
Donna Haynal, Grandmother and philanthropist
Hon. Nathalie Des Rosiers, Lawyer and former MLA of Ontario
Lindsay Tedds, Professor of Economics
Let your voice be heard, make your vote count and sign on before election day, September 20, 2021.