Ford govt must stop making parents wait for $10-a-day child care deal: NDP

QUEEN’S PARK — NDP Child Care critic Bhutila Karpoche said that while the Doug Ford Conservatives argue with the federal Liberals over signing a deal for $10-a-day child care, Ontario families are paying the price.

“For years, parents have struggled to afford Ontario’s astronomical child care costs — the highest in Canada. Now more than ever parents need child care that’s affordable and safe so they can return to work. There are families putting off having a baby they desperately want just because of Ontario’s cost of child care,” Karpoche said. “It’s heartbreaking, and people deserve so much better.

“The previous Liberal government had 15 years to bring in $10-a-day child care, but Stephen Del Duca and the Wynne government instead chose to jack up the price again and again. Doug Ford has had since 2018 to invest in making child care affordable, but he didn’t want to spend the money, and didn’t prioritize a deal with Ottawa."

So far, seven provinces and one territory that have inked a deal with Ottawa to provide $10-per-day child care.

“In Ontario, instead of affordable child care, parents are getting a petty PR squabble between the Ford government and the Liberals in Ottawa,” said Karpoche. “The Ontario NDP is committed to making child care affordable by working with the federal government to bring in universal, high quality, public and not-for-profit $10-a-day child care. We think the governments can and should get that done right now.”