(Public Interest Alberta)

By Justin Goulet/LethbridgeNewsNOW

Campaign launched for $10-a-day child care in Alberta

Jul 15, 2021 | 8:52 AM

EDMONTON, AB – A campaign has been launched for $10-a-day child care in Alberta.

The group Public Interest Alberta announced the initiative after the federal government declared a $30 billion investment over the next five years to set up a national child care program. Both British Columbia and Nova Scotia have signed on.

A release from Public Interest Alberta states that “the campaign aims to inspire Albertans to demand that the Kenney government reverse their damaging pattern of undercutting the child care sector, and work with the federal government to implement a national system of accessible, affordable, and high quality child care for every working family in Alberta that needs it.”

The group’s executive director, Bradley Lafortune said, “in a province where there are currently only enough licensed child-care spaces for one in seven children, $10-a-day child care is simply common sense.”

“Child-care costs can be one of the largest household expenses — often as much as mortgage or rent. Reducing those costs to a more manageable amount would mean families can redirect those savings towards safe housing, healthy food, and planning for the future. In an economy where nearly half of all Canadians live paycheque-to-paycheque, these extra savings would be life-changing.”

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Lafortune said access to child care means more parents can work, more children can be lifted out of poverty and it would create better social and emotional development opportunities for kids.

To kickstart the campaign, Public Interest Alberta has issued a call for parents and caregivers to share what $10-a-day child care would mean for their family. Dozens of people submitted videos, which were compiled into a campaign video that can be viewed below.

Lafortune said that “this opportunity for our children, for women, and for families is too important to pass up.”

“It’s about our collective future. Together, we can reach our goal of universally accessible, fully publicly funded and publicly delivered child care for every working family in Alberta, and across the country – but only if we organize for it.”