Bruske: As struggling parents heave a sigh of a relief, now we must make sure affordable child care is there for future generations
Canada’s unions welcome today’s long-overdue agreement to bring down the costs of child care for Ontario’s inflation-weary parents and celebrate progress toward Canada finally achieving a nation-wide affordable child care system.
“This was the last of 13 agreements to be signed and it came down to the wire. But Ontario parents are heaving a sigh of relief today that this is finally happening,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “With this final long-delayed agreement, we are now on the right path toward having Canada-wide affordable early learning and child care in place, in every jurisdiction across our country.”
Bruske also paid tribute to those who had worked so hard for so long to make national affordable child care a reality in Canada.
“Let’s remember and give thanks to the labour, child care activists and parents who have worked tirelessly for decades to keep child care on the agenda and pressure governments to do the right thing,” said Bruske. “Watching Conservative premiers drag their heels while so many parents struggled to afford sky-high child care fees has been frustrating, but relief is finally in sight for parents across the country.”
Bruske said that while today’s announcement will be greatly appreciated by struggling parents today, these new investments must also be used to increase capacity and ensure more families have access to quality care.
“With deals now in place across the country, the next step is ensuring affordable child care is enshrined in law and backed by sustainable funding to expand the system and ensure all parents have access to quality, not-for-profit, public child care,” concluded Bruske. “It will be important now to see the details of all 13 deals to ensure we are building a pan-Canadian child care system that will be there to support future generations of families.”
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