Wynne's child care announcement is inadequate, just a desperate election promise.

I have concern about families who need, and may be desperate for, child care. They will receive little to no help from the Liberal's announcement that severely lacks what is needed for all children and working parents.

When my children were very young, I struggled because almost half of my paycheque went to child care. The most difficult time to find affordable child care was when they were between 12 and 18 months of age. It has become a necessity, in our economy, to have accessible and affordable child care starting from the time parents return to work from parental leave or are searching for work.

Some children are in school at the age of 3. This is not much older than the two and a half years of age when their child care would receive funding under the Liberal's flawed plan. If Wynne was serious about improving child care, she and her Liberal government would have made changes sooner – they had 15 years to do it and they chose not to.

The Liberal proposal to fund childcare only from ages two and a half through to starting school falls desperately short of the reality of the needs of children and parents, and falls short of what our current economy demands. Wynne's Liberal government has previously cut funding to childcare. Childcare costs then increased. The current proposal lacks a true childcare strategy and fails caregivers and parents. The people of Bruce Grey Owen Sound deserve a change for the better. Andrea Horwath and an Ontario NDP government propose to lower the cost of childcare for everyone. We deserve it.

Sincerely,

Karen Gventer
Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound NDP Provincial Candidate