Editor:
Re: Letter: New West child care is at a crisis point. Fix it
There is no question that child care is a major priority for families in New Westminster. I have heard directly from parents who have been on child-care waitlists since before their children were even born.
After 16 years of underfunding under the previous government, there is a shortage of quality, affordable child care in New Westminster and across B.C. When John Horgan formed government in 2017, we acted immediately to address the child care crisis. And my colleague, Hon. Katrina Chen, was appointed as the minister of State for Childcare.
Since then she has been incredibly busy working across the province to tackle the cost, quality, and availability of child care for working families. We are beginning to see the results of those efforts!
Since forming government we’ve invested $12.1 million in New Westminster so that more families can have access to affordable, quality child care when they need it. This includes investments in the Affordable Child Care Benefit, the Fee Reduction Initiative, grants to create child care spaces, programs in partnership with our local government, and there’s more to come.
Affordable child care can have a transformative effect on families. One New Westminster mom was excited to let me know that because of the child care benefits, she and her husband were finally able to afford to open their own local business. Another family has told me that they are saving $1500 a month in child care fees and can begin to save for the future.
We know that there are still many families patiently waiting for their children to have a spot in neighbourhood child care centres. This problem developed over many years and it will take several different approaches to address, but we are making progress. With the backing of our community, my colleagues and I will continue to bring more quality, affordable child care spaces to New Westminster and communities across B.C.
MLA Judy Darcy, New Westminster
