No Daycare in Spryfield

Friday April 7, 2006

NO DAYCARE IN SPRYFIELD
April 7, 2006

Halifax – Michele Raymond, NDP MLA for Halifax Atlantic, is calling on the Minister of Community Services, David Morse, to step in and instruct his Department to expedite the re-establishment of a non-profit childcare centre in Spryfield.

“This is absurd,� says Raymond. “Spryfield has one of the highest concentrations of single parents in the entire Halifax Regional Municipality but not one licensed childcare centre.�

“How can we expect parents to earn a living when they can’t be sure their children are safe and properly cared for?�

Two years ago the Riverview Daycare in Spryfield declared bankruptcy and was forced to close, leaving Spryfield and the Sambro Loop without a single licensed childcare facility.

Raymond is concerned that this drives many single parents out of the workforce or education system, or forces them to accept less than satisfactory childcare arrangements.

“I am really concerned that the child care debate has moved to the next level, what Harper will or won’t do, what Rodney MacDonald means by a ‘blended approach’, while we lose sight of the immediate needs of parents who are desperate for quality, affordable child care now,� says Raymond.

“The children here have just as much right to a good start in life as they do anywhere else. Two years is too long to leave these communities without affordable, licensed child care centers.�

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