With $ 10 billion on the table from the federal government to expand regulated child care spaces and cut fees in half next year, it’s driving Ontario parents and municipalities crazy.
But in private there is a breakthrough. Or at least what might be a major acknowledgment – that there is a $ 3.5 billion gap between them – that’s the amount Ontario spends to provide full-day kindergarten education for juniors and seniors to 250,000 Ontario children under the age of five.
On Tuesday, Ontario’s education minister said that is a key demand for the Ford administration, and the $ 10.2 billion Ottawa has offered simply doesn’t cover it.
On Thursday, a senior federal official told the Star: “We want to see that on paper.”
“We want to negotiate with the Ontario government. And until we have that, only they will speak to the media at this time. We need something concrete and we are at the table ready to negotiate. But at this point, there is a lot of talk and we are looking for a plan of action. And we still haven’t received it from them. “
Ontario’s junior and senior kindergarten program would appear to meet many of the goals set by the Trudeau government for its “pan-Canadian” child care and early learning program, particularly the provision of quality regulated child care and early learning for children. under five years of age. group.
The federal official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the status of the talks, did not explicitly acknowledge it, but said: “What I would say is that it is certainly a regional difference that could be discussed at the negotiating table.”
There were other signs of rapprochement on Thursday.
Prime Minister Doug Ford and Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland attended the Remembrance Day ceremony together in Toronto. And later, they were seen chatting informally: Six weeks after a federal election, Ford and Justin Trudeau clashed politically.
(Ford had rejected the call for “unnecessary elections.” Trudeau had said that he “certainly” hoped Ford would “step up” the vaccination test, before the province did so in September. public health, “Trudeau said in late August).
However, Ford has since said that it is time to put aside political differences.
And that’s what desperate municipalities also say.
City councils in Niagara and Toronto have passed motions, and Hamilton has a similar vote coming up, reiterating their support for the federal program and directing staff to explore how cities could bypass the province and directly reach deals with the federal government to obtain funds.
Carolyn Ferns of the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care said: “I think what she’s talking about is her frustration that this is going on, as well as the fact that they understand what the child care crisis really is like in this time and in their communities. “
Ferns said there is “a serious job crisis in child care that is beginning to affect programs. Programs have to close rooms, (to) ask parents to send kids on alternate days and things because they can’t work with staff. So it’s really a problem. “
Faced with that pressure, Ford this week asked city leaders to be patient.
“I am pleading with the municipalities, do not divide and try to conquer. It just doesn’t work. Let us remain united as a province, ”he told reporters.
“When you stay strong and united, we will get a much better deal. I am not in favor of making parallel deals with the federal government, with the municipality. That just isn’t suitable for the people of Ontario. You need to be together. We need to stick together and we’re going to get a much better deal than going it alone. It just makes common sense. “
For parents in Toronto, it would be a dream to see rates cut in half next year. Toronto families pay an average monthly rate of $ 1,578 for toddler care, the highest in the country by far. In Quebec, by comparison, the median is $ 181 a month.
But Ontario is almost the only one that offers kindergarten to four-year-olds. Only Nova Scotia and the Northwest Territories also offer full-day school programs for four-year-olds, while Quebec has committed to full-day pre-kindergarten by 2023. And according to the Atkinson Center for Society and Development Ontario Children’s Institute for Education Studies at the University of Toronto, 10 jurisdictions offer full-day kindergarten for five-year-olds, while Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta offer half-day programs.
Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce said: “There needs to be more (federal) investment because we are providing massive investment that virtually no province in Canada, with the exception of Nova Scotia, partially does.”
Ontario has two other demands: It wants to include for-profit child care operators and the families who use its services, and it wants clarity on long-term funding for the program so the province doesn’t end up with the entire bill. . of five years.
The liberal federal government has committed to increasing its level of child care funding to a 50/50 share as part of initial five-year agreements, and then a continued guaranteed level of at least $ 8.3 billion in funding. national, with needs and progress. to be determined from the sixth year.
But the Trudeau administration’s overriding goal is to reduce regulated child care rates by 50 percent on average by the end of 2022, with a $ 10 per day daycare for all regulated child care spaces by 2025-26. It has signed agreements with seven provinces and one territory. Another senior official said there is still a lot of capacity building to do with the other two territories. But talks are underway with Alberta and New Brunswick, not Ontario.
The federal goal is to expand regulated child care spaces, but the preference is to expand nonprofit services. The three excluded provinces, Ontario, Alberta and New Brunswick, do not want to exclude their for-profit providers.
And yet there may also be more common ground.
The federal official who spoke to Star said: “Federal funds can be used for all existing regulated providers, including for-profit providers, but of course, as we align with the budget, support main will be for non-profit organizations. profit spaces “.
New Brunswick Education Minister Dominic Cardy was not available for an interview, but spokesman Flavio Nienow said in an email that negotiations with the federal government were resumed with the goal of reaching an agreement “as soon as possible. “.
He said the province wants a deal that responds to “the unique challenges and realities of New Brunswick’s early learning sector, which consists primarily of small for-profit businesses owned and operated by female entrepreneurs.”
Ottawa has established its own criteria, including greater “accessibility” for all, that is, spaces for the disabled and other vulnerable groups, or children in need of enhanced or individual support. Ottawa also wants better data tracking to publicly report on progress.
“Accessibility is about increasing the net number of full-time regulated spaces to achieve a coverage rate of 59 percent in Ontario” for the under-five age group, the federal official said.
Lecce told the Star that the province is discussing “in good faith” with Ottawa, and denied postponing the negotiation of an agreement until closer to the provincial elections next spring.
“We hope to reach an agreement as quickly as possible,” he said.
To date, Ottawa has offered Ontario just over $ 10 billion based on its share (37.8 percent) of the Canadian population of children under the age of five.
Ontario officials say its per capita share of the $ 30 billion federal program announced in the federal budget is more than $ 11 billion.
But a senior federal official said the pot available to share between provinces and territories is actually $ 27.2 billion over five years, not the largest number. The official clarified that the frequently cited $ 30 billion figure includes money expressly reserved for indigenous early childhood education plans.
The federal government has committed to a baseline of $ 8.3 billion for the provinces annually after the fifth year, or $ 9.2 billion if continuing funding for indigenous child care is included.
The need for more child care spaces is great, especially since the pandemic has devastated the sector. Most child care centers survive on parental fees, and the economic fallout from COVID-19 has hit them hard.
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Reference-www.thestar.com