Some things never change

I recall about 30 years ago, when I was looking for affordable and quality day care, it was very difficult to find!

In fact there were no standards for care, few qualified day-care workers, and fewer training opportunities for day-care workers.

We have progressed somewhat since then; there are licensed day cares with specific standards, training programs for early childhood education workers, more qualified day-care workers, and day-care subsidies.

Unfortunately, one of the things that has not changed are the wages for day-care workers.

In 1976, I worked for seven months at a non-profit Yukon day care, operated by a parent board, at a wage just above minimum wage.

From what I understand $10 per hour is about the starting wage for many day-care workers today.

Our day-care centre was no different from many others; we struggled to maintain quality care that was affordable to working parents, and struggled harder to balance the books.

That day-care worker job was one of the most physically and emotionally demanding jobs that I have ever had in my 35 years of work experience!

In many cases, day cares survived only because of the dedication of day-care workers and parent volunteers.

Many people fail to recognize the value that day care brings to our community.  Without day care many parents would not be able to work.

In recent months we’ve heard about the shortage of workers in the service and tourism industry.

Day care provides the foundation for people to be able to work, even in entry-level positions.

In order to work at a low-wage job, you must have affordable and reliable day care.  Day care enables people to contribute their skills and experience to the community, to return to school to develop work-related skills, and to keep skills current in the job market while still raising a family.

It is not a frill. It is a necessity for a growing economy.

I believe that “it takes a village to raise a child.”

I support the use of my tax dollars to support quality, affordable day care and decent wages for those caring for our children. (And incidentally liberating potential workers for an economy that is apparently short of staff.)

Lillian Nakamura Maguire

Whitehorse

 

Is the US on Canada’s

welfare recipient list?

There is no shortage gas or oil in Canada.  The annual reports for most to all the petroleum companies working in Canada state this as fact.

Their annual reports show that production levels are up across the country and are increasing.

These same petroleum companies are not reporting losses in their annual reports, they are reporting greater than ever profit gains.

There is no justification for the increased petroleum prices we are paying here in Canada.

Canadian governments have public utility acts, and petroleum pricing acts that were designed to protect the Canadian consumer from these unjustified price increases this industry has and is imposing.

These acts were not designed for, nor are they in place, for the protection of the petroleum industry or any international free-trade agreements.

Governments all across Canada are failing to enforce the legal intent of these acts to protect consumers.

The only reason I can see for the increase in the price of petroleum products in Canada is to subsidize the price of petroleum products in the United States.

So every time we fill up our oil or gas tanks, and pay our electric or gas bills we are taking money out of our Canadian pockets and giving it up to support our American neighbours.

When did Canadians agree to place the United States on its welfare recipient list?

It makes more sense to me to enforce Canada’s laws and drive the price of oil and gas down to a socially sustainable price.

If our trade agreements with the United States require us to sell oil and gas to them at the same price we pay for it, so be it.

It makes more sense to me to give them deal directly on the natural resource, than having to subsidize them directly out of our Canadian family budgets.

John Staples

Fredericton, NB