Child care takes centre stage

Child care takes centre stage

‘My agenda is to see child care in Orillia addressed’

By MIRANDA MINASSIAN Special to The Packet & Times

A 37-year veteran of the child-care industry went to bat for families

at an all candidates' debate held at the West Ridge Early Education

Centre Tuesday night.

Despite the moderator's attempt to halt her, centre director Lucille

Desjardins took centre stage in an attempt to get all five North

Simcoe candidates to focus on early education.

"I may not be a Harper supporter. I may not be an Ignatieff supporter.

I may not be a Layton supporter… What I am a supporter of is someone

who is going to speak about this issue for this area in Ottawa," she

declared.

With 125 clients on a year-long waiting list, Desjardins is passionate

about this country's child-care strategy.

"There are 20 spaces in all of Orillia for babies — kids from zero to

18 months old.  That is shameful," she said.

Recognizing that education falls under the provincial government's

jurisdiction, Desjardins believes it is up to the feds to ensure that

quality child-care spaces are available countrywide.

"It is the federal government that can make conditions attached to the

money they give to provinces," she said, vocalizing her support of a

national child-care strategy. "High-quality care should be available

to all children, regardless of where they come from or move to in this

country."

The Liberal, NDP and Green candidates were in agreement with

Desjardins' vision for a federal solution to the child-care issue.

Calling Stephen Harper's current Universal Child Care Benefit — which

provides families with $100 a month per child — grossly inadequate,

Liberal candidate Steve Clarke supports Desjardins's stance regarding

a nationwide strategy.

"This election, I believe, is a referendum on values. Do we need to be

spending $13 billion on mega-prisons or should we be investing in a

national child-care strategy?" Clarke asked. "Politicians and

political parties need to understand the differences between

investments and expenditures."

Valerie Powell sees early childhood issues as part of the larger issue

of sustainability — something she believes the Green Party addresses.

"You have to look at everything, the entire environment of supporting

people that can lead to ecologically sustainable lifestyle," she said.

"We need to build strong communities so that needs are met throughout

life."

Integrated policies that meet the Green's six core values — ecological

wisdom, non-violence, social justices, sustainability, participatory

democracy and respect for diversity — is the approach best suited to

meet community needs, Powell said.

"It shouldn't be a matter of how wealthy or educated your family is,"

said New Democrat Richard Banigan. "All children should have

opportunities."

The two parties against a national child-care strategy had differing

views on how the federal government should deal with the issue of

early education.

"Provinces have the lead in child care," said Conservative candidate

Bruce Stanton

As a provincial responsibility, Stanton remained heavily critical of

the Ontario's child-care spending record.

"The ongoing frustration with us is that any kind of agreements we

have with the province is that the accountability isn't there, " he

said. "There are set dollars earmarked for programs within the

province. We just can't find where the spending is happening. The last

report they did on day-care spots was 2006."

Christian Heritage Party candidate Adrian Kooger sees women staying

home to take care of children as a win-win scenario for families. Core

family values would be retained while job opportunities would be

created when working mothers vacate their current positions, he said.

"We would redirect money spent on unemployment and welfare to

strengthen families," said Kooger, whose party pledges $1,000 a month

for a stay-at-home parent. "Our position is that kids should be raised

by their parents and not by day-care employees."

Though vocal about her criticisms of the Harper government's move away

from the national health-care strategy before the meeting, organizer

Desjardins insists that the debate was a non-partisan event.

"I know that Bruce Stanton supports us. He is as capable as anyone to

take this issue to Ottawa," she said. "My agenda is to see child care

in Orillia addressed. Period."