Child care and early learning

Prominent Canadian economist Pierre Fortin, who Public Interest Alberta hosted at an event in Calgary on May 20th, was on CBC's Alberta at Noon talking about the economic benefits of affordable childcare. Have a listen.

In April 2015, Public Interest Alberta released a report entitled "A Just and Fair Alberta: Priorities for Change," which was designed to serve as a key resource for individuals and organizations in Alberta's 2015 provincial election.

EDMONTON—Public Interest Alberta is releasing A Fair and Just Alberta: Priorities for Change, designed to serve as a key resource for individuals and organizations in the coming provincial election.“The election presents a major opportunity for those who care about public services to make a difference in our province,” said Bill Moore-Kilgannon, Executive Director of Public Interest Alberta. “It is important that we all take advantage of this chance to advocate effectively for much-needed revenue reform that will provide the foundation for much stronger public services, and to state clearly what should be the priorities for change.”

"However, that program has since been cancelled and now that money has been going into general revenue ever since. Critics say it’s a huge issue, especially when so many Alberta communities need day care spaces. 'It’s a huge crisis. We know in Edmonton, Calgary, and other cities there are long waiting lists to get into quality child care and we are deeply concerned that the province unilaterally cut off its space creation program up until 2011 even though the federal government gives the province close to $26M a year to create more child care spaces,' says Bill Moore-Kilgannon with Public Interest Alberta."

Bill Moore Kilgannon, executive director of Public Interest Alberta (PIA), said the province spends among the lowest per-capita on child care in Canada. His organization is convinced the NDP plan will actually be a boon for the economy as lowered child-care costs will entice many more parents back into the workforce.“Guess what? They pay taxes,” he said.“It’s important, right off the top, that people don’t see this as a government expense,” Kilgannon added. “It’s an investment that actually can potentially pay more.”

If Alberta had a fair taxation system, we could develop a comprehensive early childhood education and care system that would support 110,000 childcare, day-home, and after school spaces. While the Alberta government’s Social Policy Framework identified early childhood education and care as one of Alberta’s top priorities, instead of coming out with a new strategy, the government continues to spend the lowest of all the provinces on childcare, relative to our increasing childcare population and GDP. [VIDEO];

"While many school boards across Alberta, including those in Calgary, offer some full-day kindergarten programs, the province only provides funding for half-day programs, which requires boards to allocate money from their budgets. Julie Hrdlicka, outreach co-ordinator for Public Interest Alberta, said full-day kindergarten helps kids — particularly ones from low-income families that can’t afford costly early childhood care — achieve equal footing with their classmates by the time they enter Grade 1."

"Glaciers have receded faster than daycare has advanced over the past three decades. If, the day before Public Interest Alberta released its Childcare Survey this week, you had rounded up some journalists reaching retirement age and asked them to predict its findings, they’d have rattled off the key points like jaded movie buffs reciting dialogue from Casablanca."

"According to a survey of 212 childcare operators, conducted by Public Interest Alberta and released in conjunction with National Child Day, locating quality child care is a struggle for most Alberta families and increasingly difficult for low-income families or families of children with special needs."

"PIA Executive Director Bill Moore-Kilgannon said day cares with waiting lists can have more than 300 children on those lists, with parents waiting years to get a space in their chosen facility. 'Alberta is amongst the lowest spenders, just behind Saskatchewan, in terms of how much we spend (on child care) relative to our GDP,' Moore-Kilgannon said. 'Because of that, we have the lowest number of women in the workforce, compared to the rest of the country, particularly for children under the age of two. … This is a gender-equity issue.'"