Child care costs are crushing families, and Ford is making it worse

The NDP’s Early Learning and Child Care critic, Doly Begum, released the following statement, responding to child care supporters and Toronto city councilors speaking out today against the Ford government’s child care cuts:

TORONTO — “As it is, there are people in Toronto, and across the province, who are putting off expanding their family because of the staggering cost of child care. Paying more than $20,000 a year, per child, is crushing families, and Doug Ford slashing child care operating funds will only make things worse.

Last week, Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath and I held a press conference with the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care to address how Ford cutting child care operating funds will jeopardize 51 planned child care projects and over 3,000 child care spaces in Toronto.

The City of Toronto, the Toronto District School Board and municipalities across Ontario should not have to tie themselves into knots looking for ways to protect child care funding and ensure desperately needed child care spaces are built. Families and child care workers deserve better. The NDP will keep fighting for affordable, public and not-for-profit child care.”