REGINA – The province’s new $10 a day child care deal with the federal government took effect April 1, but the government isn’t getting any plaudits for it from the Opposition.
Instead, the NDP again raised concerns about those children who turned six years old right before the deadline, but who cannot take advantage of the coverage under the new agreement because those children aged out of eligibility as soon as the calendar struck April 1. Meanwhile, those who will turn six after the deadline will be covered.
The result is a big jump in childcare fees for those families whose kids lose eligibility as of April 1.
“This morning Saskatchewan families are waking up to an incredibly harsh reality,” said Opposition Leader Carla Beck at a news conference Wednesday.
“They are waking up to face childcare fees that have skyrocketed overnight. In some cases these childcare fees have quadrupled.”
The NDP pointed to childcare bills increases ranging from $200 to $900.
“So let's be clear. This is not the best deal they could get,” said NDP childcare critic Joan Pratchler.
“It's a broken promise, and families deserve better. The minister led families and providers to believe that all children turning six while in kindergarten would be covered, and then he does this bait-and-switch at the last minute. It's unbelievably unfair.”
The NDP released details of one contract for a family of three, who had $692 per month prior to April 1 but now had to pay $1,480 per month. “They're a sticker shock for you, and during an affordability crisis,” Pratchler said. “This tired and out-of-touch Sask Party government is breaking their promises and leaving hundreds of families and the child care providers behind.”
Beck pointed to one family that they heard from that “missed this cutoff by four hours. Their child was born on March 31st. Four hours has a huge impact on these families who were promised that this would not be the case, that while their child was in kindergarten, that they'd be eligible for the $10-a-day rate. I think the increase that families are facing speaks for itself.”
In speaking to reporters that afternoon, Education Minister Everett HIndley reiterated that the existing childcare agreement that expired the previous day “did not provide coverage for kids who are in kindergarten who turn age 6 while they're still in school.”
“The new agreement, which takes effect today, now includes that provision.
So, for children who are in kindergarten and as of April 1, if they turn 6 today or from this point going forward, they happen to turn 6 and they're in kindergarten, they're now covered by the new agreement until the end of the school year. So, that's the new provision, as we've spoken about many times. It's now part of this new agreement, this better agreement that will benefit Saskatchewan families, and it is an improvement upon the previous agreement that the government did have with the federal government.”
As for those not covered by this agreement, Hindley had this to say.
“So, as of September, when these parents were enrolling their kids in school and enrolling their kids into kindergarten, we didn't have a new agreement signed.
The agreement that we currently have, or had in place at that point in time, those children, they would have aged out of the program, out of that particular, the old version of the childcare program. What we were able to negotiate at the end of November with the federal government was to include kids, but as part of the new agreement, which takes effect today, April 1. It's not retroactive, unfortunately, and so it did not provide coverage for students who turned six while in kindergarten prior to the start of the new agreement, which is April 1 as of today. And that's how the agreement works.”
One question posed to HIndley was whether the government might consider doing something to alleviate the jump in costs of child care for all participants who age out of the current program.
“Not unless we get millions of dollars from the federal government,” said Hindley.
He noted $10 a day child care was a federal program negotiated with the provinces and territories across Canada.
“They negotiated with provinces and territories across Canada. They are the bulk funders of this particular agreement. And we as a province are doing our part, and we have here in Saskatchewan. We're the third province in the country to lower our fees to $10 a day. We've hit 92 per cent of our additional 28,000 childcare spaces as per the original agreement to the target that we were asked to hit. And we're nearly there, and I'm confident we'll hit that in the coming months.”
HIndley said if there was “any consideration for expansion of the program, it would absolutely have to be led by a very significant cash injection from the federal government.”
