REGINA – There are not too many specifics yet on the contents of the child care agreement that the province is set to sign with the Feds on Friday.
Premier Scott Moe confirmed in the Legislature Wednesday that the deal for the province to sign on to the National Child Care Agreement, and extend $10 a day child care, will be formally signed on Friday. It will be a five year agreement. Education Minister Everett Hindley and federal Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu are set to sign the agreement Friday morning in Regina.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Hindley was not able to share too many specifics about the deal and what it will contain, or whether Saskatchewan got all of what it asked for. But he did pledge more details once the agreement is signed.
“We’re looking forward to having that done with the federal minister on Friday, as I said on behalf of families and child care operators in Saskatchewan,” said Hindley.
“This has been a priority for us as a government — I think I have said that, I think our government has said that consistently for months now, dating back to earlier this spring and the beginning of the expiration entering into the final year of the existing agreement, that this was something we’re going to get done. We will share more details on Friday as to what exactly is in the deal for Saskatchewan families.”
Meanwhile, Education Critic Matt Love was in no mood to laud the government for finally getting a deal done.
“I’m not about to throw a celebration for this government in taking more than a year to sign a deal for childcare in Saskatchewan,” Love said.
“This government has kept people waiting for a year and with nothing happening, creating all sorts of uncertainty, all sorts of challenges for providers, for families. We hear today from the Premier there is a deal — I'd say he has a lot to answer to those families and childcare providers across the province that they’ve left waiting while Saskatchewan was nearly the last province in the entire country to sign a deal.”
On Thursday morning in the Assembly, Minister Hindley found himself in a dust-up with Opposition critic Joan Pratchler, who had been demanding for months that the government get a deal done. During Question Period, Pratchler made clear that, like Love, she was in no mood to celebrate a deal being struck.
“… This government dragged its heels, and now we’re going to be the second-last province to sign on to the deal with the federal government. There was so much anxiety and worry for the families. Centres have nearly closed. And we desperately need more child care spaces, and we got child care deserts everywhere…” Pratchler said.
“Will the minister stand and apologize for all he’s put these families through?
That drew an heated response from the Education Minister. “I will not stand and apologize for negotiating a better deal on behalf of every single family in this province, Mr. Speaker,” Hindley said.
“Those members opposite, and that member for Regina Rochdale has the gall to stand in the House today to take credit for this deal, Mr. Speaker… The only apology that should be given in this House today to the people of this province, Mr. Speaker, is from that member opposite who ran around the province for months and months and months creating uncertainty in the child care sector. She knows better than that, Mr. Speaker, and she should apologize.”
“Well, that wasn’t very nice, was it?” Pratchler responded.
In meeting reporters afterwards, Pratchler was joined by a number of child care providers who all made it known they were still up in the air as to what the agreement would contain.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” said Pratchler.
“We’ll have to see what the details are," she added, noting the real issues are still there — pointing to the need for emergency funding and an equitable funding model.
"Just get to the job, do the job, if you can’t do it step aside. I think we can find people who could do it."
“I’m still leaning towards 'I’ll believe it when I see it,'” said Cara Werner of Dream Big Child Care of Rocanville.
“It’s still hasn’t happened yet. And… we’re still looking at the same problems we are looking at before. It’s still creating chaos, it’s still creating problems for the sector and if we don’t have the emergency funding that we need, we’re looking at potential closures in the sector already if they don’t get this emergency funding because of the system that we have in place right now. So there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done.”
Werner said a lot of the funding they receive from the government come from grants that are earmarked toward specific things such as preventative maintenance, winter play grants and the like. “So if you’re struggling to make ends meet with your profits, it’s not something that you can use to actually keep your doors open.”
She said that a huge problem they are facing right now is they are "essentially in a wage freeze and essentially in a fee freeze,” with no adjustments since 2021. That has caused problems in keeping doors open and affording operating costs, Werner said.
As for what she wanted to see in the agreement to be signed, Werner said she would love to see an “equitable funding model” and an “official wage grid so that our EC wages aren’t running off of grants.”
When asked about the accusation from the government that it was the NDP who created panic about a child care deal not getting done, Pratchler said "the panic centres called me. And that's what you do when you represent people, you go out and you listen to them and hear what their issues are. And so we did not create panic. The panic was there because the structure isn't there of what the centres need to make sure they are all thriving."
