$7-a-day childcare: Are parents getting what they need?

Economic Note on the perverse effects of a subsidized childcare system
Montreal Economic Institute, October 19, 2006, by Norma Kozhaya

Note économique (en anglais) sur les effets pervers dune gestion tatise des services de garde
Instituté économique de Montréal, 26 octobre 2006, par Norma Kozhaya

With the stated aim of preventing two-tier childcare from emerging, the Quebec government recently blocked subsidized private daycare centres from engaging in extra-billing for supplementary activities. This coercive measure is a logical outcome of the centralization and standardization process that began a decade ago. Although the Quebec childcare model is seen by many as being among the most advanced in Canada or even the world in terms of family policy, the perverse effects of government management are being felt increasingly. Does this policy really suit the parents it was meant to help?

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Child care to get $5B boost

Five-year plan aims to create national program
Ottawa promises first $700 million without strings

The Toronto Star, by Laurie Monserbraaten, Staff Reporter, Feb. 24, 2005

OTTAWA The first $700 million of Ottawa's long-awaited $5 billion national child-care initiative goes to the provinces this year with no strings attached.

The money, to be paid through a third-party trust and available to provinces according to population, is a sign of "good faith" while federal, provincial and territorial governments continue to negotiate a formal funding agreement, Social Development Minister Ken Dryden said.

Dryden was hoping to secure a deal in Vancouver earlier this month, but his provincial and territorial counterparts balked, saying they wanted to see Ottawa's financial commitment in the budget before signing on. More ..

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A is for adult authority

As a Quebec town tries to rein in its restless youth with a controversial curfew, Christian broadcaster LORNA DUECK sees a lesson for all Canadian parents
The Globe and Mail, By LORNA DUECK, Thursday, August 5, 2004 - Page A15  More ..

Are child factories the answer?

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Kids unprepared for Grade 1

As many as 30% of Peel children lack needed skills: Study
English-as-a-second-language students aren't as ready

Toronto Star, TESS KALINOWSKI, EDUCATION REPORTER, November 25th, 2004

A wide-ranging assessment of senior kindergarten children in Peel Region has confirmed that as many as one in three don't have the physical, emotional and social skills needed to start school.

It showed Brampton students are least likely to be ready for school. About 30 per cent of Brampton children weren't prepared for Grade 1, versus 26 per cent in Mississauga and 16 per cent in Caledon, said Paul Favaro, chief of assessment and accountability at the Peel District School Board.

There is growing research that suggests children who struggle early on in school often fall behind permanently. More..

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Ambitious daycare agenda unveiled
Plan will eventually offer full day care for all children 2 1/2 and older

Canadian Press, November 25th, 2004

The daily dash between kindergarten and day care could one day be a thing of the past for Ontario parents under a provincial plan unveiled today to dramatically increase the number of available day care spaces.

Children's Minister Marie Bountrogianni promised more space for kindergarten-age kids by next fall as the province takes the first steps towards establishing a full day of learning for preschool-age kids - a master plan that's expected to take more than a decade to fully realize.

"Our first priority is to create a full day of learning and care for four and five year olds," Bountrogianni told a child and youth conference at the Ontario Science Centre as she made the announcement.

"We're rebuilding the link between child care and education so that children make the transition into Grade 1 smoothly." More ..

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No early child-care deal, Dryden predicts

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation ( CBC ), Feb. 12, 2005

VANCOUVER - Social Development Minister Ken Dryden predicted Friday there would be no quick deal on a national child-care program.

"There won't be a deal today but we're getting there," Dryden said as he sat down with representatives from the provinces and the territories at a hotel in Vancouver.
Dryden said the different governments have made substantial agreements on many points but there's a long way to go. More..

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Canadian Child Care Federation Conference 2005

Plan-It Quality: Environments in Early Learning and Child Care Linking the Research, Policy and Practice

Speech by the Honourable Landon Pearson,
Advisor on Childrens Rights to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
June 4, 2005, in Regina, Saskatchewan More ..

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OPINION

Steve Walters: Avoid the Canadian curse of universal day care

Steve Walters, The Examiner, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. July 26, 2006
 
BALTIMORE, Maryland, U.S.A. - Having trouble finding good, cheap day care for the kiddies? What if the government made licensed care available to all for $5 a day. Wouldnt that be sweet?

Not so fast. Before you write to your congressional representative demanding such a program, you might want to consider how it has worked out for the Canadian province of Quebec.

Its dogma among feminists and other left-leaning intellectuals that an enlightened society would liberate young mothers from the shackles of child rearing by making day care cheap and available to all. So, back in the late 90s, Quebeckers did exactly that: Starting in 1997, the Quebec Family Policy law guaranteed government-regulated daycare slots to pre-kindergarteners for a parental contribution of $5 per child per day (since raised to $7), with the rest of the bill footed by taxpayers. More ..

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Top-ranked bosses know how to 'walk the talk'
From defending staff to child care help, top employers earn accolades, VIRGINIA GALT writes

The Globe and Mail, WORKPLACE REPORTER, VIRGINIA GALT

Finding quality child care for her daughter was not a problem when first-time mother Anuradha Ray was ready to return to her job as senior compliance analyst at KPMG LLP -- the Toronto-based accounting firm had reserved a spot for baby Kavya in a nearby child care centre.

Better still, Ms. Ray's manager indulged her compulsion to peek at Kavya every now and then through the webcam mounted on her computer at work that was connected with the child care centre. More ..

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