This week's Know Thy History looks at the rise and fall of Windsor Ontario's directly-operated child care. Will the rest of Ontario's public child care become history too?
1968
• Highlights from brief on need for day care presented to city council, Windsor Star, 6 Feb 1968
"At Monday evening's City Council meeting the Day Care Committee of the Social Planning Division of United Community Services presented a brief requesting day care centres be established in Windsor. The committee indicated an ever-increasing need for day care services in the community. The committee recommended the City undertake the establishment of a day care service through one of its departments."
"An advisory committee comprised of interested and knowledgeable citizens from the community as well as some users of the service should be established. The fee should be determined according to an equitable scale taking into account both need and ability to pay. Location should be in an area of the city that has easy accessibility as well as proven need."
1970
Windsor establishes first municipal centre on Lauzon Rd.
1971
• Windsor's day care needs, Windsor Star, 10 Dec 1971
"The city administration is now considering nine new centres...while [Essex County] is working to establish centres in Amherstburg, Leamington and Tecumseh. All this is happening through a winter works program under which the province with federal money will pick up 100 per cent of land and construction costs and 80 per cent of maintenance costs."
....
"The social services department also felt that the involvement of government will add stability to the program. ‘The concept of day care is relatively new and it is very possible that the stability of public financing and operation is required to demonstrate to working mothers that permanent plans for child care can be made beyond the family circle or the immediate neighbourhood'."
1980
• Windor-Essex leads Ontario in child-care reform study, Windsor Star, 3 Apr 1980
"The Windsor-Essex County area appears well on its way to becoming the first region in the province to become locally responsible for co-ordinating and financing child-care. The Windsor-Essex Children's Services Committee is one of four pilot projects established by the provincial government in early 1979 to evaluate, co-ordinate and eventually assume total funding responsibility for children's services....supported by the province."
1984
• We ‘don't have a handle' on day care, hearing told, Windsor Star, 28 Sept 1984
"There are 700-800 Windsor children in municipal day-care centres and another 120 in private centres, the [Ontario Standing] Committee [on Social Development] was told. Day care became an issue in Windsor when the province announced plans in June to raise daily fees from $12.85 to $21.50 by July 1985. Faced with mounting pressure from parents, City Council unanimously voted to defy a provincial order that would have nearly doubled the fees charged by day-care centres."
"Donna Marsh, a local child care worker and spokesman for Local 543 of the Canadian Union of Public Employee (CUPE)...said child-care teachers in city-operated centres hold early childhood education certificates. But in private centres ‘the Day Nurseries Act only requires one qualified teacher for each eight children. The assistant is not required to hold any certification and we feel anyone who works with children should be trained'."
2010
• City of Windsor report recommends closing municipal daycares, Windsor Star, 22 Jan 2010
"City staff are recommending the closure of municipal daycare centres in Windsor and Essex County to trim more than $740,000 from the annual budget beginning in 2011."
• Windsor council votes to get out of the daycare business, Windsor Star, 2 Feb 2010
"After a long and highly charged debate, city council voted Monday night to get out of the municipally operated daycare business. It means the elimination of nine city-operated daycare and early learning operations by Sept. 1 and the elimination of 118 city worker positions."
• Windsor and Essex County daycares close, Windsor Star, 1 Sep 2010
"On the last day of local municipally run daycare, Jennifer Daly shed some tears - as her three-year-old daughter Payton had the previous evening. But at least Payton had her stuffed Mickey Mouse and her Mom on Monday to walk her out of the Jefferson Early Learning & Child Care Centre on a rather hard day for youngsters, parents and workers.
"It's very sad," Jennifer said. "I walked in here and saw some staff crying and I burst into tears. You get that emotional attachment with people, especially when you know that your child is being so well looked-after."
Jennifer said Payton will continue at the city-owned facility when it changes over to the private ABC Nursery, though she can't help wonder about the quality of care."