Canadian families have waited 30 years for Liberals to deliver childcare: NDP

NDP Critic for Families, Children and Social Development, Leah Gazan, made the following statement:

New Democrats welcome a childcare deal in New Brunswick – it is long overdue. The Liberals have been promising Canadian families affordable childcare since 1993, and since then, families have spent thousands of dollars every year in childcare expenses. In some parts of the country, the cost of childcare is the same as having a second mortgage. Families deserve quality accessible, affordable and culturally appropriate childcare in their community, when they need it.

Decades of inaction from the government has had real economic impacts for families. According to Campaign 2000, the family economic disparity is so significant that the top ten per cent of families with children held nearly the same share of income as the bottom 50 per cent of families with children.

New Democrats will continue to push to make sure the Liberals hold up their end of the deal and actually deliver the affordable childcare people need. This should include zero fees for low-income families – many of whom are now struggling even more as a result of the cutbacks to the Canada Child Benefit.

After finally agreeing to get families the childcare help they desperately need, it's inexplicable that the Trudeau government is still refusing to stop clawing back the Canada Child Benefit from low-income families who rely on that support. Families who received the CERB or CRB are being punished for following the rules during the height of the pandemic. New Democrats have been calling for an end to the clawbacks for months, and we will continue to do so until people across the country are treated fairly.

This pandemic has been incredibly difficult for families. We know that high-quality and universally accessible childcare is a step towards a just recovery. We look forward to seeing the details of the childcare agreement and will fight to make sure we all get out of this pandemic in a better place than we were before.