FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EDMONTON – AFL President Gil McGowan called for immediate action from Premier Danielle Smith to fix the funding crisis in childcare in Alberta.

“Rotating closures of childcare centers are an alarm bell that this government must respond to. The closures are hurting workers and families.

“Choking off provincial funding to childcare while restricting the fees operators can charge is suffocating the industry. The UCP is simply acting as a flow-through for the new federal dollars, failing to meet their provincial obligation to ensure childcare centers have the quality staff they need with access to quality wages and benefits in quality working conditions.

“Disruptions from these closures are affecting working families and in turn the economy. For a government keen to hand out billions of public dollars to private businesses in other industries, it’s shameful that they are so reluctant to provide the support that nonprofit and small centers need to survive.

“Lower childcare costs have dramatically increased women’s participation in waged work. That has increased provincial tax revenue. That’s a win for women workers, the economy, and the treasury. The UCP government needs to work with providers to fix the issues.

“But, the UCP have allowed delays in funding for childcare subsidy payment to service providers. This in turn has made their businesses financially precarious.

“The UCP demanded to have control over childcare funding from the federal government and paraded around proudly after signing the bad deal they concocted with the feds. They are responsible for this mess. They need to fix it immediately.”

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MEDIA CONTACT:
John Ashton
Director of Communications, AFL
E-mail: jashton@afl.org