On Monday, April 19, the federal government announced a historic investment into child care, proposing to spend an additional $30 billion over the next 5 years, with the goal of establishing a nation-wide $10 per day child care system.
This is wonderful news and long overdue. Child care costs can be one the the largest household expenses - sometimes the same cost as mortgage or rent. Access to high-quality, accessible, and affordable child care is a proven method for lowering the rates at which children experience poverty and reducing barriers for women. This investment is a gamechanger for working families all over the country.
The Kenney government, however, has failed children and families by undercutting our public services, and the child care sector specifically. They continue to maintain the significant cuts they’ve made to the child care sector over the past two years. In addition to ending massively successful pilots like the $25-a-day child care program, the Kenney government has cut grants like the Benefit Contribution Grant and the Staff Attraction Incentive which help operators hire and retain highly-trained staff. The result is that the largely woman-dominated profession and the families who rely on child care are worse off than before.
The federal government’s commitment offers a once in a generation opportunity for us here in Alberta, but the work is far from done. All of us must organize to win a reversal to the cuts and the government's corporatist agenda. We need to stand together and demand the provincial government match the federal investment. We need to dream big and fight together for the ultimate goal of universally-accessible, fully publicly-funded and publicly-delivered child care for every working family in Alberta.
We need your help! Will you join us in the fight for $10-a-day child care?
We want to hear from you! Send us a video about what $10-a-day child care would mean for your family!
- Take a short (10 - 15 second) video on your cell phone filling in 1 - 2 sentences after "$10-a-day child care would mean...."
- Take it in landscape mode with good light in front of you
Our new Executive Director Brad Lafortune tried a couple of times to submit a video.
His first attempt had some issues:
❌ Too close
❌ Too long
❌ In portrait mode
❌ Too rambling and quiet
After extensive consultation with our communications officer, his second try was much more successful!
Here's what he did better:
✔ Great lighting (in front of him)
✔ Good framing of face and shoulders
✔ 1 - 2 sentences; directly to the point!
✔ In landscape mode
✔ Good speaking volume
Great job Brad!
