Missed deadline won’t impact access to federal child care funds, Nova Scotia education minister says
“. . .
In the release, NDP leader Claudia Chender expressed concerns that as families across the province continue struggling to find affordable child care, the government had failed to prepare its Child Care Action Plan for 2023-2026.
The NDP said that meant leaving this year’s $123 million in federal funding on the table.
In an interview on Thursday, Chender said many parents in the province are “desperate” to return to work. But an inability to access child care is making that impossible.
“There are so few spaces available that at this point, low cost is really important, but access is actually the most important,” Chender said.
“The reality is right now that people in this province so often cannot access childcare at all. That creates a huge issue, and it especially creates a huge issue for women.”
‘Pushing them to complete the plan’
Chender said child care has long been “extraordinarily hard to find,” but in recent years access has gotten worse. With the level of federal investment, she said she finds that “mystifying.”
“I think that they (provincial government) have to be honest about what they have done so far. Which is, from our perspective, not very much, or at the very least not enough, and what they intend to do,” Chender said.
“This action plan provides a really good opportunity for that. This is why we’re pushing for them to complete it as soon as possible, to not leave that federal funding on the table and to make sure that we increase access to affordable, accessible childcare as soon as possible right across this province.”
. . .”