Lack of Adequate Daycare in Manitoba

At a time when women constitute half of the labour force, it is quite astounding that there is no national child care program in place. Instead, families are left scrambling to make their own individual arrangements, often for substandard care. The prohibitive cost of licensed child care coupled with the paucity of subsidized spaces makes it difficult for many working mothers to afford daycare for their children.

It is not possible for women to participate fully in the affairs of society without having access to a publicly funded national childcare program. Child care advocates across Canada have been fighting for a national daycare program for many years. In 1995, the Liberal government promised 150,000 new regulated child care spaces, a promise which they have since conveniently dropped. The latest federal Liberal budget released at the end of February did not even mention daycare spaces in its proposals regarding families and children. Some provinces have made some moves on their own to improve daycare services. Last year, the Quebec government implemented a model which provides regulated daycare for children 2 - 4 years of age at $5.00 per day. This "Quebec model" has been demanded by women all over the country, and only last month, the government of British Columbia said they too would implement would implement a similar model for child care. The Manitoba NDP government, however, refused to commit to such a model when the motion came forward at their recent convention in Brandon, saying the province couldn't afford it.

Manitoba has nearly 22,000 licensed daycare spaces. According to the Director of the Manitoba Child Care Association, that represents only 17 percent of what is required in the province. In particular, there is an increasing demand for evening care, weekend care and shift work which is not being met.