Low-income families would receive a 75 per cent refund on child-care costs — to a maximum of $6,750 — with smaller rebates for more affluent families, under the Progressive Conservative platform released Saturday.A Tory government would also continue with the Liberals’ plan to open 100,000 child-care spots over the next five years, but says no new elementary school would be built without daycare rooms or before- and after-care space.Kemptville Public School, which just opened this fall, “must retroactively apply for approval for needed child-care spaces,” says the party’s platform. “The government should get this right from the start.” Read more: Patrick Brown promises PCs would bring hydro bill relief, new subways, lower taxesPCs promise more new long-term care beds than LiberalsWho is Patrick Brown? The Ontario PC leader opens up about life, love and his new haircut as a June election loomsPC Leader Patrick Brown is also pledging a full ban on school closings — expanding the Liberals’ current moratorium on those in rural and Northern Ontario boards — until the review process is fixed and takes into account the impact on the local community.“Urban and rural schools are closing all across Ontario without proper oversight or proper guidelines that take into account the local economic impact of the school closure,” says the PC platform, urging “proper community consultation, including parents of the schools affected, local businesses and municipalities.”The platform also promises to address declining math scores through improved teacher education and professional development, as well as forcing boards to spend special education funds for that purpose only.The PCs say they would also “study options, including amending the Blind Persons’ Right Act to expand the rights of people with disabilities and autism to bring service animals into schools and public places.R ...
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