Advocates wondering why NDP hasn’t fulfiled $10-a-day daycare election promise yet

“A Manitoba NDP government will provide true $10-a-day childcare and make sure that you have childcare that works when you work.”

That was Wab Kinew last summer during the election campaign promising to expand $10-a-day childcare into the summer months, holidays, and professional development days.

Fast-forward to the summer of 2024 and advocates are now wondering why an elected NDP government still hasn’t followed through with their promise yet.

“It’s disappointing, families were probably looking forward to those reduced parent fees for the summer. Unfortunately, it is not going to happen on July 1, like we had hoped,” explained Cathy Gardiner, the president of Manitoba Child Care Association.

For parents of multiple children, childcare costs in the summer can quickly add up.

“For school-aged families, the bulk of their childcare costs are going to be recognized during the summer months when their children are in daycare full-time. That $10-a-day for school-aged families is $20.80 so it’s double what other people are paying in preschool and infant centres,” explained Gardiner.

Susan Muswagon says, “I have six kids and it’s really hard to get childcare. It’s so expensive, it’s like paying my own rent.”

In a statement to CityNews, the government blamed the PCs for what they say is the party blocking this year’s budget from passing, delaying the rollout of the program, but the opposition says

“There’s a bit of bologna in there. They announced yesterday that they are using funds from the Canada-Manitoba Canada-wide childcare agreement to bolster the wage grid for ECEs and workers in the childcare sector, fully support that it’s necessary work dealing with the recruitment and retention issues the sector is facing,” said Grant Jackson, PC Critic for Education and Early Childhood Learning.

“If they are using funds from that pot of money for that initiative there’s no reason they can’t also be using funds from that pot of money to implement $10-a-day for the summer.”

And while some parents wait to see $10-a-day daycare eventually expanded year-round, others are still waiting just to get a childcare space.

“I have a four-year-old and a three-year-old and I have never been able to put them in childcare just because there isn’t anything available. I went to a daycare last week and they said there were over 100 children on the waiting list,” said Lucille Galvez.

The government says they are hoping to pass this year’s budget in the fall, implementing year-round $10-a-day childcare shortly after.