Child care advocates fear consequences if Liberal funding promise falls through

OTTAWA (NEWS 1130) – A federal promise to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a national child care system is not a sure thing _ and advocates are wondering happens to the money if the Liberals can’t reach agreements on a long-sought day care framework.

The government promised to spend $500 million next year on child care, tying it to ongoing talks with the provinces about a national child care framework that would establish the ground rules for federal involvement in an area of provincial jurisdiction, not unlike health care.

Included in that promise is $100 million for First Nations child care on reserves, an area for which the federal government has direct responsibility.

Federal officials say the money is intended as an incentive to the provinces to entice them into signing onto a child-care framework and to demonstrate that the federal government wants to be a willing partner in the child care system.

But what if there is no agreement by next year _ or only a handful of provinces sign on to a framework?

Employment and Social Development Canada, the federal department overseeing the initiative, would only say that the details of the “disbursement of unused funds are still being determined.”