Ottawa – Yesterday’s announcement by the federal government of the creation of an advisory committee on child care “has been done before, and will probably generate the same recommendations that we have seen for the past twenty years or more,” said CUPE’s National President Paul Moist today.
“We cannot fathom why this so-called new government would appoint a panel that at first and second glance is so top-heavy with business interests instead of parent interests,” added Moist. “There are so many names appointed to this advisory committee that represent the “for-profit” business side of child care that it makes one wonder whether the priority is about business, or taking care of our growing children.”
CUPE was not consulted by the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, about the makeup of the advisory committee prior to yesterday’s announcement. “Nor to my knowledge were any of the groups representing the voices of parents,” said Moist.
“At the very least,” Moist added, “the Minister might have spoken first to the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada (CCAAC), perhaps the most representative group of child care advocates in the country today. Its exclusion sends a very clear – and not too welcome – signal that this government is less interested in listening to parents than to the business people who see profit in the child care industry.”
The advisory committee has been set up to advise the federal government on the needs of families, the role of employers and business, with the aim of creating more child care spaces, and keep an election promise by the Conservative Party of Canada.
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For further information, please contact:
Louise Leclair, CUPE National Communications Director, 613-237-1590 ext 264; (cell) 778-838-0699
Catherine Louli, Senior Communications Officer, 613-237-1590 ext 268