New Ontario Education Minister Todd Smith signaled to the province where he wants the child care sector to go – and it should be deeply concerning to anyone who cares about children, workers, or the judicious use of tax dollars.
In his first public statement about the sector in crisis, Smith asked federal Minister Jenna Sudds to roll back the existing limit which caps for-profit operators at 30% of the spaces within the publicly funded federal system. Advocates have already pointed out that this decision would be both unnecessary and dangerous and over 140 organizations have signed an open letter opposing the move. CUPE National leaders, meanwhile, sent a forceful letter to Minister Sudds asking the federal government to reject the request and loudly defend publicly delivered child care.
“Smith could have asked the federal government to support small and struggling centres. He could have asked for funding for wages to address the workforce crisis as workers leave the sector in droves. Instead, his go to move was to open the floodgates to big business by using taxpayer dollars to subsidize private operators’ profits” said Fred Hahn, president of CUPE Ontario which represents more than 5,000 child care workers across the province. “Smith is new in this role, so it’s no surprise that he doesn’t know what every expert, parent, and child care worker understands: non-profit centres are the gold standard when it comes to quality services and good jobs.”
The Ford government framed this call as clearing away red tape for for-profit centres operated by single mothers who are pulling themselves up by their bootstraps. Nothing could be further from the truth. The billions of dollars of private equity that are prepared to flood the Ontario market in the form of big-box operators gobbling up smaller centres are not motivated by a desire to provide excellent care but because of a cynical opportunity to make a quick dollar.
The letter to Minister Sudds, signed by CUPE National President Mark Hancock and Secretary Treasurer Candace Rennick, read, in part: “Research has repeatedly shown the negative impacts of the privatization of public services, and child care services are no exception […] For-profit operators sacrifice wages and working conditions for increased profit, accentuating the existing challenges in recruitment and retention of qualified personnel […] Public money must be used to fund quality and accessible care offered by professionals, and not to increase revenue for investors. Profit has nothing to do with our children’s education.”
“Big box operators have proven that they’re in it for the bucks, not the kids. But we are not going to allow private equity, real estate speculators, and corporate interests to make money on the backs of our children,” said Hahn. “Families deserve the highest quality of care from professional workers who are paid fairly and treated with respect. That is not possible in a sector dominated by the profit motive where the short term goals of business mean workers get squeezed while the next generation gets short-changed.”