Bring attention to early childhood care and education

"Code Blue Challenge - Do something imaginative in the last week of the federal election campaign to bring attention to early childhood care and education.

• Take a field trip to your local campaign office to deliver the Code Blue "Report Card" on the federal parties' platforms
• Pass out the Code Blue "Report Card" to parents wherever they gather - schools, playgrounds, coffee shops, swim classes, libraries 
• Organize a small group to leaflet in a local mall or on a street corner to deliver the "Report Card". 
• Add some fun with a Hokey Pokey Flash Mob, make up new lyrics to old favourites (Skinnamarink - "We need child care in the morning and in the afternoon")  
• Share your action on YouTube!
• Upload a message to voters and politicians to YouTube, spread the word on twitter and Facebook
• Get the "Report Card" out in any way you can think of and report back to Code Blue on what you did!! 

TAKE THE CODE BLUE CHALLENGE - THEN LET CANADA KNOW WHAT YOU DID FOR QUALITY CHILD CARE

Child Care Report Card

Child Care report card: Harper’s score ‘unsatisfactory’ 

OTTAWA – A report card grading the Canada-wide parties’ child care election promises says Stephen Harper and his Conservatives are unwilling to learn and should develop active listening skills around parents’ needs for reliable, high quality child care.

The report card, produced by the Code Blue for Child Care campaign, takes Harper to task for the lack of any plan to create and fund a range of good early childhood education and care services and improved parental leave.

“If child care was a course and the Conservatives were in the classroom, they would stand out for their lack of interest and unwillingness to contribute ideas,” says Shellie Bird. “While we found there was room for improvement with the other Canada-wide parties, they at least did their homework, and got some good scores and made commitments to universal child care.”

 The report card can be accessed in full at www.buildchildcare.ca.

 

Code Blue for Child Care

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Good child care makes Canada more democratic: Code Blue for Child Care

A national child care program is fundamental to a democratic Canada, says Code Blue for Child Care, a cross-Canada campaign to make child care a central issue in this federal election. The Code Blue coalition will join with other groups to support the Day for Democracy activities on Wednesday, April 6.

 “Good child care promotes and exemplifies democracy in action,” said Shellie Bird, Ottawa coordinator of Code Blue.  “A universal, public early childhood education and care system provides an environment where children and adults practise respect for diversity and social inclusion. It is also a community institution in its own right, and critical to women’s equality.”

A key principle that unites the groups in the Code Blue campaign is that Canada’s national child care system must be built on publicly-managed, democratically-controlled services.

“Child care is not a business,” said Sue Delanoy of the Child Care Advocacy Association on Canada. “When child care is run as a business, decisions are made by owners and shareholders – not by the community and parents. The priority is making a profit—not quality services or children’s well-being. This flies in the face of democratic participation and the public interest.”

Code Blue says a national child care program is not only the “smart thing” for a society to put in place but also the “right thing” – a human right and a children’s right. The coalition’s goal is to elect a federal government that will commit to developing an early childhood education and care system available to all families of young children in Canada. Code Blue brings together national, provincial/territorial child care organizations, labour and women’s organizations, social justice and anti-poverty groups – Canadians from all walks of life.

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For more information:

Shellie Bird- Code Blue for Child Care- 613-233-0228

Sue Delanoy-Child Advocacy Association- 306-241-4952

Authorized by Code Blue for Child Care