BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities pressure the federal and provincial governments to ensure that all children, irrespective of family financial status, have equal opportunities for early learning and care, which means that families have access to equal, affordable options in child care; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities pressure the provincial government to return the 23 million taken from the regulated quality child care subsidy program; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities pressure the provincial government to restore child care funding to 20002001 levels and also to return the income threshold eligibility for child care subsidy to 20002001 rates; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities pressure the federal and provincial governments to ensure that the federal EDI and Multilateral Framework Funds are used in BC to enhance quality, affordable, accessible early learning and care facilities and programs; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities pressure the federal and provincial governments to act now to put research into practice; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities hold accountable the federal and provincial governments regarding the taxpayers dollars which were intended to enhance existing child care services and programs.
MINISTRY OF CHILDREN FAMILY DEVELOPMENT Early childhood development ECD is a priority for the Ministry of Children and Family Development. Over the past three years, government has made significant investments in ECD programs and services, based on the best available evidence and research. Under the FederalProvincialTerritorial Agreement on Early Childhood Development, British Columbia is receiving 288.4 million over five years, commencing fiscal year 20012002. Funding supports incremental, predictable and sustained investments in programs and services for children aged 0-6 years in the following four priority areas: promotion of healthy pregnancy, birth and infancy; strengthening early childhood care and learning; improved parenting and family supports, and; strengthening community supports. Strategic investments have been made in building communities capacity to deliver ECD services. Emphasis is on the following areas: prenatal supports, such as midwifery services; services for children under six, especially culturally appropriate aboriginal ECD services; services for children with autism spectrum disorder, and; opportunities for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder FASD education and prevention. Quality child care is integral to early childhood development. Under the Early Learning and Child Care Initiative ELCC, the federal government allocated 1.05 billion over five years to increase learning opportunities and childcare. British Columbia is receiving 137.2 million over five years, commencing fiscal 20032004. Eligible expenditures are limited to regulated childcare for children under six years of age. The first annual report on activities and expenditures for ELCC will be released as part of the report on ECD activities and expenditures in the late spring or summer, 2005. For 20032004, funding was allocated to supported child care programs.
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT CANADA Research demonstrates that quality early learning and child care contributes to childrens healthy development and readiness to learn, and it is a significant factor in parents ability to work. That is why, through the Multilateral Framework on Early Learning and Child Care established in 2003, the federal government is transferring 1.05 billion over five years to provinces and territories to help them improve and expand their programs and services. However, the majority of families still do not have access to quality early learning and child care. To address this gap, the February 2005 Budget confirmed the federal governments commitment to invest an additional 5 billion over five years for a national initiative to support the development of early learning and child care across the country. Most of this new funding will be provided to provincial and territorial governments to enable them to improve and expand early learning and child care supports. The new funding also includes 100 million for early learning and child care for First Nations children living on reserve and a further 100 million to improve knowledge and information to support better planning and accountability. Minister Dryden is working with his provincial and territorial counterparts to establish the parameters of a national initiative to accelerate the development of quality early learning and child care. FederalProvincialTerritorial Ministers responsible for Social Services have agreed the QUAD principles Quality, Universally inclusive, Accessible and Developmental, will guide the development of early learning and child care in each province and territory. At their meeting on February 11, 2005, Minister Dryden and his provincialterritorial counterparts issued a communiqu which recognized that any approach will require flexibility , so that each jurisdiction can design and deliver programs and services to best meet their respective priorities and circumstances, as well as clear accountability so that citizens can track governments progress over time. Ministers indicated that they would continue their discussions with a view to finalizing the details of a new initiative as quickly as possible.