When it comes to daycare, Horwath's wrong, minister says

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is wrong when she says the province is cutting daycare funding in Sudbury, Education Minister Liz Sandals said today in a statement issued to NorthernLife.ca.

On Dec. 9 in Queen's Park, Horwath took the minister to task over over child care funding, saying the province cut funding to Junior Citizen's Daycare Centre by $2 million last year.

“The Liberal government is cutting child care,” said Horwath. “Sudbury’s municipal daycare manager says their budget was cut by $2 million last year."

Not so, says Sandals.

"The NDP is absolutely wrong," the minister said in a statement. "Since 2003, we have increased funding for child care in Sudbury by 110 per cent. The City of (Greater) Sudbury received over $15 million for child care funding in 2013, and received the same level of funding for 2014.

"Funding for child care is based primarily on child population demographics, to ensure our funding is used most effectively," she added. "Despite a regular decrease in child population demographics in the Sudbury region, and the fact that full day kindergarten is now available for all four and five year olds in Sudbury, the ministry has maintained child care funding levels to ensure services for parents and families are not negatively impacted."

As NorthernLife.ca detailed in an August, 2014 story, Ron Henderson, the city's director of citizen services, told the community services committee the province cut $1.8 million for daycare spaces in 2013. Another $3.6 million is expected to be trimmed by 2016, he said.

Those funds are used to subsidize spaces at all daycare centres in the city to make the cost more affordable for parents who qualify. The city receives a lump sum per child for spaces at all daycares in Greater Sudbury.

Since it's staffed by municipal employees, wages at Junior Citizens are about 50-per-cent higher than workers in non-government daycares. As a result, the facility consumes a larger proportion of funding than other daycares. Last year, for example, subsidies at JCDC (which are topped up with municipal funds to maximize the number of spaces available) were $6,304 per child, compared to $3,063 for non-city facilities.

That prompted the council to look at winding down Junior Citizens, since it would be taking an even larger proportion of shrinking funds.