Excerpt
...
CWELCC must be strengthened
The Harper years revealed the consequences of dismantling a national childcare system to provide families with more “choice.” Simply giving money to families does not facilitate access to affordable and high-quality daycare. Government needs to provide direct investments to non-profit and public childcare centers while applying a cap on childcare fees to facilitate access to childcare for all households.
Any critiques of the CWELCC program that call for its dismantlement are often led by and serve the interests of those who benefit from profit-driven models of child care. When childcare is made into a commodity, rather than a public good, children and families suffer while businesses reap a profit.
When politicians promise more affordable and accessible childcare by replacing the CWELCC with a tax or cash benefit, it is important to remember that the Canada Child Benefit has been providing families with subsidies since 2016 – often at a much higher rate than was provided by the UCCB – yet childcare fees remained high until the implementation of CWELCC.
In the face of upcoming provincial and federal elections, it is imperative that parents get organized to dispel the myths propagated by the right and advocate for an expanded CWELCC program that achieves its $10 a day target. A recent victory in the GTA demonstrates how parents can achieve results against daycare operators when they are mobilized.