Families not getting help they need, dad tells child care minister at NDP photo op

More criticism of NDP plan for child care savings A year after the NDP campaigned on a promise to cut child care costs in B.C., some parents are still wondering when they'll start getting help.

In politics, the photo opportunity is meant to highlight good news.

On Tuesday, a kickoff event for child care month in British Columbia was no different. The point was to meet with parents who were overjoyed with receiving discounted rates on daycare, thanks to a new NDP government program.

Except there was one glitch: those parents invited to take part were more eager to vent their frustrations with the child care system.

One dad, who was part of a planned, formal discussion with the minister, even went so far as to criticize the NDP’s current plan to improve it. Typically, such people are vetted before they take part.

He said middle-income families weren’t getting the help they needed from the current proposals. Katrina Chen, the minister of state for child care, pointed out the plan is a long-term one and that the changes now were only just the beginning.

A fee reduction program that began in April has approved about half of all eligible spaces to offer a discounted rate.

The province pays the difference and parents can save anywhere from $60 to $350, depending on the age of their child and what type of licensed facility the kid or kids are in. In addition, more than 20,000 new licensed spaces are promised in the next three years, along with better oversight.

In September, some parents will be eligible for a new child care benefit for families earning up to $111,000 a year. The rest of the plan will roll out over 10 years.

What Tuesday’s photo op may reveal is that child care is so critical and so fraught with issues, that any attempt to celebrate “quick fixes” may be met with resistance until parents feel real change is made.