Ontario Caregivers - daycare announcement due today

[playfelt]

I'm not saying anything to my parents right now because this is still in the proposal stage and because we have no timeline. We all know our numbers change frequently due to mat leaves and that is how my group will likely be effected. I have only my 20 year old at home although she is special needs it looks like those distinctions are gone too as in no discrimination. There still is not enough incentive to be licensed though. My guess is that there will now be a provincial media push to discourage parents from choosing unlicensed and it will become our job to convince parents why it is equivalent or in their best interest such as the flexibility and the parental control - well a little bit of control.

[bright sparks]

I'm trying to be optimistic today as yesterday was very stressful and sitting worrying isn't productive. It would appear that we originally thought it was the 3 under 3 but the act clearly states no more than 2under2. Yes this is still a huge issue but at least it's opened up spots for children 2 and older..it's not much but it is something. Unfortunately for those dcp's in concentrated areas it just means it will be a "buyers market" if you know what I mean. There will be heavy competition for these children as most providers will have two spots open for this age group giving the parents so many choices which is a good thing for them but very competitive for us providers. Those offering a specialty such as organic etc will already be under financial strain from the new age ratios so keeping this up in order to have an edge, obviously only if a parent finds this important, will be difficult. I am really going to have to see if I can live on three full timers. That's another thing too....what are your thoughts on taking full versus part time kids when this comes into effect. It can be difficult enough to fill opposite days so when we are already restricted with ages and numbers do we want to run the risk of having days open in the younger age groups?

[playfelt]

Some of the school programs operate all summer around here so I am assuming that is the plan. They operate with a summer camp approach. Also the kids graduating grade 6 in June do not get care that summer and instead those starting JK the following Sept get summer spaces so that is when those leaving for school in Sept are often gone and spaces need to be filled.

[playfelt]

The bill still has to be debated in the house and then voted on. Ideally I am thinking they might want to have it passed by the end of the Christmas sitting but I am also wondering how much of a lead time/grace period there will be before it is enacted in that even when a bill has been passed there can be a time before it becomes law such as 3 months.

[gravy_train]

Not to be overly pessimistic but I think it's naive to hope that this bill won't be passed - it's such a controversial topic right now and there is major pressure from the media and public to enforce some regulations in the daycare sector. Like playfelt suggested, I just hope that there is a fair amount of time before we have to make these changes.

[Fun&care]

I also read somewhere that this is something the Liberals have come up with but they have to get approved by the Conservatives before it goes through since the Liberals are minority so it could be a good idea to write letters to some conservative representatives too.

[momofnerds]

also are they going to hire more people to investigate daycares where is the money going to come from that. Also, I don't understand that if you are lisenced you can have 1 extra kid but unlicesened you can only have 5 so how is that safe. also, everything I read says "proposed". Yes, changes are coming but....

also, what about afterschool kids where do they fall now, and so are they saying 10 yr olds can stay home by themselves for hours upon hours now because there won't be a program for them. Talk about unsafe.

[treeholm]

I also read somewhere that this is something the Liberals have come up with but they have to get approved by the Conservatives before it goes through since the Liberals are minority so it could be a good idea to write letters to some conservative representatives too.

Good point, but I have heard that the conservatives are all for it, which is why the Liberals are so sure it will pass. The conservatives do NOT want to block legislation that is supposed to increase safety for children.

[cfred]

God, I feel ill. We just bought a house. I sank a fortune into this business. I'm on my own here and this is my only source of income. Thanks to the shitty daycares who messed it up for all of us. Thanks to the Min of Ed for not doing it's job following up complaints and inspections. And thanks to the Min of Ed and media for throwing all of us under the bus with the damning headlines painting us all with the same brush. And what irritates the friggin' hell out of me is that woman whose baby girl died in the Vaughan daycare. I feel terrible that her child died, and of course, there's nothing that warrants that. BUT....where was she as a parent??? My neighbours across the street have a relative who went to the same daycare. He said those parents didn't have any idea what was going on, didn't go to the daycare (ever). The kids were picked up and dropped off every morning. They had no idea even what the kids were eating. Seriously??? The only thing they cared about was that it was cheap and they spoke Russian. I could just smack that woman now for kicking up such a stink in the media. Where's HER culpability as an irresponsible parent. And the Min of Ed now scrambling to bring this into effect, making US sound irresponsible?! Where were they for the last god knows how long while they weren't doing their jobs. Jesus F on a bloody stick.....I don't remember the last time I was this upset!

Maybe writing to the conservative party is a good idea. During my reading last night, though I can't remember which article it was, I'm sure I read that the Conservative party opposes the change.

[treeholm]

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/Pr...188/story.html

Here is an excerpt from the article above:“I would think that both opposition parties would be interested in expanding access to licensed child care and making sure where people don’t follow the rules, that we actually have a much-expanded ability to enforce the rules,” she said.

Although the Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats both said they wanted to review and digest the bill before saying whether or not they would support it, they agreed the changes are long overdue.

The NDP leader said the Liberal government has ignored “warning bells that have been ringing loudly.”

“This is them coming too late to a crisis that’s been brewing for years and years,” she said.