Limits in Your Province/Territory. please

[bright sparks]

Rachel, I see what you are saying...Ontario seems to have had less restrictions than most other provinces. BUT, there is one key difference, as Playfelt mentioned...full day kindergarten starts for kids aged 3.5 - 4 years old. We only have ages 1-3 in terms of full-time care. There is no half day kindergarten even. And school aged care here pays so little, it is hardly worth the trouble. So how can we fill our daycares if we are restricted to only 2 under 2 and the rest basically have to be between 2 and 3 and then they are off to shool (and all schools have to provide before and after care, so there is no shortage there).

I think my biggest issue with the rule is that it does not make children in the care of a home daycare provider any safer than if a provider were to have 5 under 2yrs. Some providers will be better with that number than others and I think a lot is down to personal preference as to whether they like that busy under 2 group where the dynamic is very different than a group of 3 or 4 year olds or a mixed group. The issue with the bill for many is how it effects income, and if my kids were younger and that aspect were to effect me, then perhaps my attitude would be different. Without my focus being on this aspect though, I am able to see things from a different angle which is that regardless of income and ratios, this bill is meant to ensure the safety of children attending in home independent childcare. This bill does no such thing, and the under 2 rule does nothing to impact this either. Give me a bill that ensures safety and supports providers with training and resources, not restrictions which make no sense. The children who tragically died were not in the care of a provider within the 5 plus your own rule....although maybe I missed those legal daycares playing by the rules where a tragic "accident" occurred without the presence of neglect in the headlines. They were grossly over ratio and were breaking multiple rules of health and safety additionally to many other common sense rules. How does Bill 10 even address those. This bill actually just gives way to an increase in illegal daycares with no way to enforce their increased fines as they haven't implemented any way of tracking providers unless they are with an agency. How many seemingly good providers are going to see the bill pass and be like, "No not doing it. I'm going to carry on as majority of people aren't aware of the DNA now, so they probably won't even know the rules that I am breaking with the new bill and I can't afford to lose the income. I won't draw any attention to myself. We won't go out other than the back yard." That will happen so so much. I think there should be ratios and guidelines, and I'm coming from a country where childcare, even home childcare requires a prerequisite training, licensing and is heavily regulated and monitored. That is how we keep our children safe. Bill 10 really makes a ton of money for agencies, and causes multiple providers and parents no doubt to fall into hardship as providers are forced to close, earning far less than minimum wage and as more and more providers close, parents without care will lose their jobs and be forced to stay at home. Way to screw things up in Ontario, Liberal government!!