Protests on Child care

Children will pay the price for cuts to B.C. child care services - Protests across British Columgia against the Harper and Campbell governments

Vancouver (7 Feb. 2007) - The B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU/NUPGE) says it could cost taxpayers upwards of $5 million to close child care support services across the province by this fall. The finding is based on an initial survey of child care resource and referral centres across the province. Read more

Demand for child-care funding

B.C.'s early childhood education providers can no longer "prop up a fractioned child-care system," say child-care advocates.

Protests are taking place throughout B.C. today to take a stand against continued cuts to child-care funding and the closure of the province's 45 Child Care Resource and Referral Centres planned for later this year.

"This is a no-brainer kind of issue," said Todd Kettner, psychologist and founding member of the Dads for Daycare group based out of Nelson, B.C. "What was a bad situation before is now absolutely critical," he said, pointing to long waitlists and the economic effects of lost productivity due to lack of day-care options for working parents. Read more

Kelowna - Day-care providers to protest cutbacks

Saying that there is power in numbers, day-care operators are involving parents and kids in protests against funding cuts. “On the sixth, we are having Black Tuesday, and all the childcare workers will be wearing black, we’ll ask parents to wear a black ribbon and the children will do all their art projects in black,” said Kim Chernenkoff, manager of Daycare Connection in Kelowna.

“We’ll determine at a Feb. 8 meeting what we’ll do on Tuesday, Feb. 13. It’s possible that all day-care centres will close that day so day-care workers, parents and kids can march to their MP’s or MLA’s office to protest.” Read more