Conservatives fail families in need of affordable childcare

Instead of taking steps to make sure that all Canadian families can access affordable childcare, the Conservatives are playing politics with a child benefit program that has failed to create a single childcare space.

“Only the Conservatives would boast about an inadequate program and then fail to make sure families even receive it,” NDP Employment and Social Development critic Jinny Sims (Newton – North Delta). “The maximum annual benefit barely covers the cost of two months of childcare, and thousands of Canadian families aren’t even registered.”

Families with children under 18 will receive a lump sum Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB) payment retroactive to January 2015, just before the fall election. However, an estimated 200,000 eligible families could miss out on receiving money as they are not in the system. A recent Parliamentary Budget Office report found that the UCCB does not cover what families actually spend on childcare.

“This Conservative failure would be laughable if families weren’t so desperate for access to quality childcare spaces,” said NDP deputy Employment and Social Development critic Sadia Groguhé (Saint-Lambert). “Only Tom Mulcair’s NDP has a plan to create a $15 per-day, per-child childcare program.”