Horwath partners with child care advocates to push back against Ford’s cuts

On Wednesday, Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath met with child care advocates calling for the Ford government to immediately commit to providing a fair wage for Early Childhood Educators.

To date, the Ford government has not confirmed that critical wage enhancement funding for Early Childhood Educators will continue after March 31. If the funding were cut or eliminated, it would mean higher child care fees for parents or massive shortages of educators.

Horwath and the Coalition for Better Child Care released the following joint statement after meeting:

“Every Ontario family should be able to find affordable, high-quality, not-for-profit child care. When we invest public dollars, they need to go into care, and not into private profits. And underlying all of this, Early Childhood Educators deserve a fair wage.

Parents, educators, and child care providers need to know that the funding they are counting on will be there after March 31.

The risk to cutting funding for ECE wages could include the potential for higher fees for parents, lower wages for talented hardworking ECEs, or fewer licensed not-for-profit spaces.

The changes in Bill 66 will mean people caring for children in their home will have less time and attention for each child, which means more risk for children.

Today parents in Ontario pay the highest fees for licensed care in Canada. Our collective goal is to ensure that every parent can find high-quality licensed, not-for-profit, affordable childcare in every community in Ontario. Cutting funding for wages, and watering down protections are steps in the wrong direction. People deserve more support not less.”