Vancouver City Council

MOTION ON NOTICE

Submitted by Councillor Roberts for the Regular Council Meeting of June 22, 2004

1. Child Care

MOVER: Councillor Roberts
SECONDER: Councillor Woodsworth

WHEREAS, the federal government allocated $50 million to B.C. over the past two years to support child care and early childhood development;

WHEREAS, the B.C. government has reduced funding for child care across the province by $50 million since 2000;

WHEREAS the City of Vancouver is experiencing a crisis in child care caused by provincial cutbacks to subsidies for low and moderate income families, cuts to operating grants and cuts to child-care advocacy organizations;

WHEREAS the City of Vancouver has for the past two years provided subsidies to protect 600 child care spaces for those families who are most in need even though child care funding is a provincial and federal responsibility;

WHEREAS, the City of Vancouver, The Vancouver Park Board and the Vancouver School Board established a Joint Council on Child Care to work together to ensure the protection of existing childcare services, the more efficient provision of childcare services, and the equitable expansion of childcare across the city;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the City of Vancouver endorse the recommendation of the Joint Council on Child Care calling on the Government of Canada to require provinces to:

1. maintain their 2001-2002 baseline spending on child care and related early childhood development programs, and
2. use federal funds to supplement, rather than replace, provincial spending.

FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED THAT the City of Vancouver forward this motion to the leaders of the major federal political parties running candidates in the federal election and the Government of B.C.

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