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Let me brief you on what Manitoba is doing with respect to childcare during COVID: a thread. #Cdnchildcare #mbpoli
On Aug 24, MB issued its second Action Plan for early learning and childcare (part of its renewed bilateral agreement with the federal government). On Aug 26, MB made a childcare spending announcement. Sounds like good news, right?
Manitoba will receive another $15 million this fiscal year, the fourth year of federal transfers. The total by March 31 2021 will be $60 million from Ottawa. What will Manitoba have done with these federal funds? It is hard to track, exactly.
On Aug 24th, Manitoba announced $22.4 million in funding. At the announcement, Families Minister Stefanson reported that 21,000 spaces are currently operational. This is a huge drop from the 37,459 spaces operating pre-pandemic. https://news.gov.mb.ca/news/?archive=&item=49114
Manitoba is missing 16,459 childcare spaces we had just a few months ago. Facilities are shuttered. This is awful for families.
Yet Minister Stefanson seemed pleased as she reported that “In fact, supply of childcare has now exceeded demand in the province – an unprecedented situation in Manitoba.” This misleading at best. @MLAStefanson
When COVID hit, childcare (like schools) was closed for public health. Parents have lost jobs and 46% of all spaces have still not reopened – and some may stay closed permanently.
Today, a centre with a vacancy almost certainly means a family who used to use that centre no longer has the job or resources that they used to have. Best case: a lucky parent is able to work from home, while juggling care. The economy is hurting and families are hurting too.
Pre-COVID, Manitoba had a waiting list of over 16,000 names of children registered for a space, in addition to 37,459 spaces. Manitoba has a childcare place for just 18.8% of children aged 0-12 years – well below the Canadian average of 27.2 %.
Manitoba’s action plan proposes creating just 1,400 new spaces. Altogether, the planned new spaces meet less than 1/10th of the enduring waiting list.
Childcare centres provide 92% of MB spaces & their provincial operating grants have been frozen since 2016. Centres face increased costs & revenue shortfalls during COVID. ECE wages are also frozen & more than 1 in 4 centres is operating w/o the required ratio of trained staff.
None of the $22 million announced on Aug 24th will go to increasing operating funds to existing facilities. Instead, about 1/3 of the dollars will go to private businesses to set up childcare. The province is also prioritizing family home childcare, their longstanding preference
Many of the announced funds will be outsourced to the Manitoba and Winnipeg Chambers of Commerce to manage. No ECE sector leaders spoke, but the two Chamber CEOs attended the Aug 24 press conference.
Chambers of Commerce have exactly zero expertise in early childhood education. In contrast, there is a skilled civil service in the Manitoba Early Learning and Child Care program who could distribute public dollars and support the sector.
Why would Manitoba outsource the administration of public funding? Members of @MGEUnion should also ask this question.
Should Manitobans be fine with the fact that scarcely half of all childcare spaces have reopened? Will increasing privatization be good for the childcare sector? Is the federal government getting good value for its annual $15 million transfer to Manitoba?
Childcare is essential – for children, for families, for women, for social justice & reconciliation, for our economy. Manitoba’s leadership is claiming to support childcare. But its actions would appear to belie the claims.
