Author of the article:Catherine Ford
Publishing date:May 05, 2021 •
Premier Jason Kenney would contribute greatly to the province's well-being if he accepts universal daycare, writes Catherine Ford. PHOTO BY CHRIS SCHWARZ/GOVERNMENT OF ALBERTA
Child care is fundamental to Canada’s economy. Such a statement of the obvious should not have to be written. But could someone please tell Alberta Premier Jason Kenney that fact?
Maybe, just maybe, a middle-aged (he’s 52) single man without children would naturally be unaware of the advantages of having licensed daycare for other people’s children. Yeah, right. (Cue the sarcasm.
He apparently wasn’t paying any attention to what has been revealed during this pandemic, that being a working mother isn’t for the faint of heart or skint of wallet. My friend, whose daughter has two children and a full-time job, says the cost of childcare in Calgary — and likely across this country with the exception of Quebec — can be more than monthly mortgage payments.
I’d have a lot more respect for any man and, in particular, for any male politician, who recognizes the importance of early childhood education and supports a universal concept. Like universal health care, it doesn’t start in kindergarten, it starts with the first words said to a baby and continues throughout childhood, just the same as health care. That’s why warehousing the very young in unlicensed and unregulated care homes is not satisfactory. At the moment, though, that’s sometimes the only choice available to working mothers.
It’s strange that experience doesn’t seem to count. I remember the on-site daycare at the Calgary Herald and what a benefit it was to employees with children. (Truth be told, it was also a boon to the rest of us whose daily jobs were lightened and heartened by the sight and sounds of small children playing outside our office windows.)
A made-in-Ottawa plan, outlined in the recent budget might not be the ideal way to start, but it would be a start. To roll out $10-a-day childcare within five years — at an estimated cost of $30 billion — will take compromise and compliance on the part of the provinces. Kenney had already dismissed what he refers to as “institutional” care, suggesting it would only serve the urban elite and unionized workplaces.
Curiously, I am assuming the premier actually supports the “institution” of schools where children are sent most weekdays during the school year, whether they wish to go or not.
Further, Kenney has already hinted he believes the federal government is leaving too many families out of the equation: “rural families, shift workers and many Indigenous people,” he said. And what about people who choose to stay home with their children, don’t they deserve equal consideration, some cash maybe? In a word: No. If you make that choice, if you can afford to live on one income, good for you. But the plan is not to provide for the well-off middle class, but to provide support for those who cannot make that decision.
Scalded cats have already weighed in on the gaps and problems. But I side with one of the Famous Five, Nellie McClung, on this: “Never explain, never retract, never apologize. Just get the thing done and let them howl.”
My interest in the subject is simple: I am an elderly woman who has never raised children, but I know the success of the adult rests on the success of childhood. I‘m a curious and vocal adult because, among other advantages, my parents sent me to the Calgary Montessori School at age four.
In other words, I have no skin in this game and neither does the premier — but the care of children should not be just a family’s decision, but the collective force of society. We can’t afford, literally, to allow marginalized and disadvantaged children to be left out and down in our economy. Their success starts with affordable, equitable childcare.
The suggestion that cash in hand so parents can spend it on whatever version of childcare they can find is beyond stupid. It reminds me of nothing less than the outrageous Alberta Prosperity program when then-premier Ralph Klein decided to waste about $1.4 billion of an estimated $8.5-billion surplus by sending out $400 cheques to every Albertan, including children. Imagine if he had decided to use that money to support universal early childhood education. But that’s not the populist’s way; that’s not the right-of-centre way. It didn’t save Klein’s job and Kenney’s popularity is heading down the same rabbit hole.
Catherine Ford is a regular columnist for the Calgary Herald.
Child care is fundamental to Canada’s economy. Such a statement of the obvious should not have to be written. But could someone please tell Alberta Premier Jason Kenney that fact?
Maybe, just maybe, a middle-aged (he’s 52) single man without children would naturally be unaware of the advantages of having licensed daycare for other people’s children. Yeah, right. (Cue the sarcasm.
He apparently wasn’t paying any attention to what has been revealed during this pandemic, that being a working mother isn’t for the faint of heart or skint of wallet. My friend, whose daughter has two children and a full-time job, says the cost of childcare in Calgary — and likely across this country with the exception of Quebec — can be more than monthly mortgage payments.
I’d have a lot more respect for any man and, in particular, for any male politician, who recognizes the importance of early childhood education and supports a universal concept. Like universal health care, it doesn’t start in kindergarten, it starts with the first words said to a baby and continues throughout childhood, just the same as health care. That’s why warehousing the very young in unlicensed and unregulated care homes is not satisfactory. At the moment, though, that’s sometimes the only choice available to working mothers.
It’s strange that experience doesn’t seem to count. I remember the on-site daycare at the Calgary Herald and what a benefit it was to employees with children. (Truth be told, it was also a boon to the rest of us whose daily jobs were lightened and heartened by the sight and sounds of small children playing outside our office windows.)
A made-in-Ottawa plan, outlined in the recent budget might not be the ideal way to start, but it would be a start. To roll out $10-a-day childcare within five years — at an estimated cost of $30 billion — will take compromise and compliance on the part of the provinces. Kenney had already dismissed what he refers to as “institutional” care, suggesting it would only serve the urban elite and unionized workplaces.
Curiously, I am assuming the premier actually supports the “institution” of schools where children are sent most weekdays during the school year, whether they wish to go or not.
Further, Kenney has already hinted he believes the federal government is leaving too many families out of the equation: “rural families, shift workers and many Indigenous people,” he said. And what about people who choose to stay home with their children, don’t they deserve equal consideration, some cash maybe? In a word: No. If you make that choice, if you can afford to live on one income, good for you. But the plan is not to provide for the well-off middle class, but to provide support for those who cannot make that decision.
Scalded cats have already weighed in on the gaps and problems. But I side with one of the Famous Five, Nellie McClung, on this: “Never explain, never retract, never apologize. Just get the thing done and let them howl.”
My interest in the subject is simple: I am an elderly woman who has never raised children, but I know the success of the adult rests on the success of childhood. I‘m a curious and vocal adult because, among other advantages, my parents sent me to the Calgary Montessori School at age four.
In other words, I have no skin in this game and neither does the premier — but the care of children should not be just a family’s decision, but the collective force of society. We can’t afford, literally, to allow marginalized and disadvantaged children to be left out and down in our economy. Their success starts with affordable, equitable childcare.
The suggestion that cash in hand so parents can spend it on whatever version of childcare they can find is beyond stupid. It reminds me of nothing less than the outrageous Alberta Prosperity program when then-premier Ralph Klein decided to waste about $1.4 billion of an estimated $8.5-billion surplus by sending out $400 cheques to every Albertan, including children. Imagine if he had decided to use that money to support universal early childhood education. But that’s not the populist’s way; that’s not the right-of-centre way. It didn’t save Klein’s job and Kenney’s popularity is heading down the same rabbit hole.
Catherine Ford is a regular columnist for the Calgary Herald.
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