Скачать или смотреть Will the minister create a centralized daycare wait-list?

SUZY HANSEN « » : When in Opposition, the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development advocated for a centralized daycare wait-list. He believed this would not only benefit parents but also create greater transparency and accountability. He explained that the government is "spending tens of millions of dollars every year, and you have no clue how many people are waiting for child care." I'll table that. Now that he can make a real difference, my question to the minister is: Will the minister create a centralized daycare wait-list?

HON. BRENDAN MAGUIRE: Hansard got me again. We're going to continue to work with our daycares, and we're in the process of collecting the information and data. We want to make sure every person who needs access to child care - it is a big lift, and we want to make sure everybody has it. Obviously, these are barriers to work and barriers to education. We are proud to work with the federal government on this. We're going to continue to work to ensure everybody has access to daycare.

SUZY HANSEN « » : I see now, Speaker, that this is the flip-flop the minister spoke about as happening. I see it now happening right before us. Parents are endlessly calling daycares, being put on dozens of wait-lists, and given no clear timelines on when their child will secure a spot. Despite this high demand, the province has lost over 1,300 spaces since this government took office in 2021. I already tabled that. The extreme level of uncertainty that parents are faced with right now is unacceptable. My question to the minister is: Why is the minister not delivering more accountability and transparency for young families in need of daycare spaces?

BRENDAN MAGUIRE: I want to thank the honourable member for the question. Flip-flop: On the one hand, they are telling us, Don't give universities accountability. On the other hand, they are saying, Give accountability for child care. You can't have it both ways. We are working with our child care sector. We are going to continue to work with them. We are working on getting information out to parents.