“The election’s over — it's time to sign the deal,” said Joan Pratchler, Shadow Minister for Early Years.
“We have heard excuse after excuse, but there's no reason to delay signing this deal and risk jobs, peace of mind, and affordable, high-quality and accessible childcare for so many families and their communities.”
Over the course of the last three months, Sask. Party Education Minister Everett Hindley has offered excuse after excuse for failing to sign an extension to the current childcare deal. Eleven other Canadian jurisdictions have signed onto the deal.
Childcare providers have been warning for months that parents and early childhood educators are growing increasingly anxious about the uncertainty and are at risk of closing their doors permanently.
“The deal needs to be signed, there's no other way I can say it,” Pratchler said. “If it’s not signed soon, centres across the province will begin to close. The trickle-down effect of even less childcare spaces in this province? Well, we simply don’t want to find out. It would be devastating to our economy, to our future.”
Pratchler said there is also a need for emergency funding for childcare centres on the verge of closing as a result of the stalled deal and she called for the development of an equitable formula so providers are never in a situation like this again.
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