Kathleen Wynne promises to ban daycare waitlist fees

Premier pledges provincial regulations to ban daycare waitlist fees in wake of mounting pressure to act.

Thestar.com
May 11, 2016
By Laurie Monsebraaten

Ontario will ban daycare waitlist fees in new provincial regulations to be posted “very soon,” Premier Kathleen Wynne says.

Wynne made the commitment in the legislature Wednesday in response to questions from the NDP’s Peter Tabuns, who introduced a private member’s bill last week to address the issue.

“We’ve listened to parents, we’re committed to eliminating the child care waitlist fees in Ontario and we’ll work with providers to get that regulation posted very soon,” Wynne said.

Toronto lawyers Nadine Blum and Kelly Doctor launched a petition in March calling on the province to ban the fees after Blum’s struggle to find care for her son forced her to put her name on more 20 daycare waitlists.

Since there are licensed spots for fewer than 25 per cent of the province’s young children, parents are forced to put their names on multiple lists to secure a spot. The fees being charged by up to half of Toronto daycares, range from $10 to more than $200 and represent an added financial burden for cash-strapped parents, the petition says.

With money changing hands and rumours of desperate parents dropping into centres with cupcakes and other treats to sweeten their chances, the lawyers’ petition also urges the province to ensure waitlists are administered fairly.

Education Minister Liz Sandals vowed to act on April 1, hours after the Star reported on the controversy. But Liberal MP Arthur Potts read the lawyers’ petition in the legislature April 11 to keep the issue on the front burner.

Tabuns, who says he was prompted by impatient parents in his Toronto - Danforth riding, says he introduced his private member’s bill to turn up the heat.

“I’ve seen many things promised in Question Period and many things promised in a variety of other forums,” he said Wednesday after Wynne’s positive response. “I’d be very happy if she actually does what she says she’s going to do. I’m going to wait until it’s actually done to consider it done.”

Blum and Doctor are happy Wynne has weighed in with the strongest pledge yet.

“We’re pleased to see that the premier is committed to taking action on the issue,” Blum told the Star. “We hope that her comments around accountability will also result in action on the issue of the transparency of waitlists, the queue jumping.”

But they don’t want the government to stop there.

“Overall, we think this is a great first step,” Blum said. “But we have concerns that this could very well be just tinkering with the system and won’t address the more pressing needs that result from scarcity and undue costs that need to be resolved through a universal child care system.”