Jasper considers using leftover COVID-19 dollars on child-care strategy
Jasper Municipal Council may opt to use $24,000 from the COVID relief reserve to develop a child-care strategy.
The strategy would examine the current role of the municipality in the provision of child care, identify gaps in child care within Jasper compared to the other communities and look at the potential approval of family day homes.
At council's committee of the whole meeting on July 27, two recommendations were presented to provide council with a more systemic look at local child care.
The first recommendation was that the committee recommend council to approve the use of $24,000 from the reserve to develop a community strategy.
The second recommendation was that council undertake advocacy to encourage the province of Alberta to join the national Early Learning and Child Care plan.
“The world of early learning and child care has been fraught with tensions in Canada for as long as I can remember,” said Kathleen Waxer, director of community and family services.
Waxer also stated that it has taken a great deal of time to understand that early childhood educators are educators and not babysitters.
The next tension is the affordability of quality care.
The bulk cost of child care is in the staffing.
The cost of an infant in child care is approximately $16,000, which is almost the equivalent to a year at university, making affordability a challenge.
The other major question is whether the parents or government should pay the cost.
During the pandemic, more families are struggling to afford the fees of early child care.
Administration had discussed three different concepts when coming up with recommendations to committee regarding how they could use the $24,000.
The first was an idea to create a new subsidy tier. The idea was to enhance the provincial system that is already in place to assist more families.
But the Alberta government had come up with a similar idea after the report was published.
The second concept that was explored was a fixed discount to the families that are already using the child-care services at Wildflowers.
This could support 52 families for six months, saving $75-100 per child each month.
The final option that was explored was whether the $24,000 dollars might be invested in developing the strategy that was mentioned earlier and taking a more systemic approach to child-care related issues within the community.
Ultimately, the final concept is what administration landed on as their recommendation to council as the best utilization of the funds.
Coun. Jenna McGrath said she was in agreement with the recommendations and felt that the $24,000 could have a longer lasting impact if used in the right place.
She also agreed that council should advocate for the province to join the nationwide early childhood learning and child-care plan as soon as possible.
Mayor Richard Ireland then asked if $24,000 was the right amount to spend.
Lisa Daniel, childcare services manager, stated that she reached out to a few consultants in the area, and the ideal is around $23,000 to $35,000.
Committee recommended council approve the use of $24,000 from the COVID relief reserve to develop a community child-care strategy and that committee recommend council undertake advocacy to encourage the province of Alberta to join nationwide early learning and child-care plan ASAP.
Mayor Ireland then changed the wording of the motion to say that committee recommend that council approve the use of $24,000 from that portion of the COVID relief reserve previously allocated to provide subsidies to users of municipal child-care services.
With the amendment in place, all councillors were in favour and the motion was carried.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
'Sophisticated' cyberattacks detected on B.C. government networks, premier says
There has been a "sophisticated" cybersecurity breach detected on B.C. government networks, Premier David Eby confirmed Wednesday evening.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
Canucks claw out 5-4 comeback win over Oilers in Game 1
Dakota Joshua had a goal and two assists and the Vancouver Canucks scored three third-period goals to claw out a 5-4 comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Wednesday.
Nijjar murder suspect says he had Canadian study permit in immigration firm's video
One of the Indian nationals accused of murdering British Columbia Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar says in a social media video that he received a Canadian study permit with the help of an Indian immigration consultancy.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.