Ontario’s due for some child-care spending if the government is going to fulfil its promise of 100,000 spaces over the next five years, advocates say.At a press conference at Queen’s Park on Tuesday morning, daycare groups and parents urged the Liberals to dedicate at least $500 million for capital and $200 million for operating costs in the upcoming budget.“We are here . . . two days before the provincial budget, to say child care cannot wait,” said Carolyn Ferns, public policy co-ordinator for the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care. “We have a child-care crisis here in Ontario — we have the highest child-care fees in the country, spaces for only one-quarter of kids, and early childhood educators’ wages and working conditions are far too paltry for the professional and vital work that they do in our communities . . . “We are expecting big things from this Ontario budget and we’re expecting (Premier) Kathleen Wynne to finally deliver on her child-care promises.”Last year, the Liberals pledged to create 100,000 daycare spaces starting in 2017, saying that would double the current numbers and help families not only find, but afford, spots for their children. The government has since held public consultations about its five-year plan and other policy changes in the works.Ferns is hoping that in addition to the money, the government will also outline a plan to make child care more affordable for families “either in the form of more subsides — but better than that would be a commitment to really building an affordable fee scale for families.”
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