Toddler tragedy emboldens Vancouver parents to rally for $10-a-day child care - Action News
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British Columbia

Toddler tragedy emboldens Vancouver parents to rally for $10-a-day child care

Demonstrators brought signs reading, 'For Mac,' as they marched on Attorney General Suzanne Anton's constituency office, hoping the tragic death of Macallan Saini at a daycare in January will spur the B.C. Liberals to adopt a $10-a-day child care plan.

Demonstrators march on attorney general's office, but Suzanne Anton rejects their plan

Parents and their children marched to MLA Suzanne Anton's office on Saturday, March 25. 2017 as part of a campaign to get $10-a-day child care in B.C. (Tina Lovgreen)

Parents and children carried signs with the image of toddlerMacallanSainias they ralliedoutside of Attorney General Suzanne Anton's Vancouver officeto urgethe government to adopt a$10-a-day child care plan,

Shelley Sheppard and Chris Saini, whose15-month-old sonMacallandied in an accident at a daycareare now calling for reforms to B.C.'s daycare system following the tragedy.

There were several signs held by those rallying for $10-a-day child care showing 15-month-old Macallan Saini, who died at a daycare in January. His parents are asking for child care reforms in B.C. including $10-a-day child care. (Tina Lovgreen/CBC)

"You know it could be your baby in that spot right?" said Jenny Comeao who marched. "Nobody should be in that position."

Comeao considers herself lucky that her work offers child care for her daughter, but she had to apply when she was four weeks pregnant, and a spot did not not open up until her daughter was 13-months-old.

"I'm still on other wait lists and Ihaven't heard back from in the rest of the city. It is pretty crazy in terms of what the options are."

Marina Guy says her daughter has remained at 150th place on a child care wait list for a year and a half. (Tina Lovgreen/CBC)

Marina Guy's daughter is now 15 months old but is only 150th on a list for a day care spot.

"It's super frustrating to a point where I think Ishould just stay home and that becomes a gender issue because Imake less money than my husband, so it's me that is going to stay home."

The provincial government currently invests an estimated $224 million to the child care sector, accounting roughly 111,000 licensed child care spaces.

But there's only enough space for a quarter of children aged five and under in the province, according to the Child Care Resource and Research Unit.

'We are not doing the $10-a-day child care plan, we are building more child care spaces,' said Liberal MLA and Attorney General Suzanne Anton (centre). Her government is promising 13,000 new spaces by 2020. (Tina Lovgreen/CBC)

Antonmet with parents at the rally in front of her office, but she flat-out rejected an adoption of the plan by her government.

"The price tag on $10-a-day child care is very high but what we are very committed to is to make sure there are enough child care spaces," she said. "We do have supports for people on lower income to use those places."

New federal money

In its recentbudget the federal government committed $7 billion over the next 10 years to create new and affordable child care spaces.

"We welcome the federal government's commitment to create more child care spaces, which is what we are also focused on doing," said officials from the Ministry of Children and Family Development in a release.

It also said that the province will create 13,000 new licensed child care spaces throughout the province by 2020 and since 2014 has invested $26.5 million to create more than 4,300 new licensed child care spaces.

B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan says if his party is elected, a $10-a-day policy would be introduced.

with files from Tina Lovgreen