Excerpts from the report:
In the 2007 BC Budget, the government must tackle poverty and homelessness boldly and comprehen¬sively if we are to see substantial improvement before the province hosts the 2010 Winter Olympics. There is nothing inevitable about our unacceptably high poverty rates, growing inequality and rising homelessness. Nor is there anything inevitable about financial crises and unacceptably long wait times in our health care system, cash-strapped schools and universities, inadequate child protection, or inac¬cessible child care. These are about the choices we can make &em; or fail to make &em; with the provincial budget.
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This Solutions Budget is not as prescriptive as in past years. Rather than listing precisely what should be spent in each program area, we outline a range of options available to the province &em; a "menu" of policy choices. Some of these can be fully funded in 2007/08, while others should be phased in over the next two to three years. (We also show how much more money would be available if provincial revenues returned to their pre-tax-cuts levels.) The Solutions Budget outlines how much it would cost to meet various program goals &em; "price tags" for meeting our most pressing needs in the coming one to three years. These include:
Early Learning and Child Care
- A universal early learning and child care program for one to five year olds would require annual operating funds of $1.5 billion, plus $650 million in one-time capital costs. Adding before-and-after-school care for children up to age 12 would cost an additional $500 million. Such a program would need to be phased in over a few fiscal years. We recommend starting with an increase of $500 million in 2007/08.