Agree to Disagree
Last month, I had a meeting with a wonderful business advisor/becoming-a-friend, and we got to talking about the $10/day childcare plan, and whether or not it will ever happen for BC. It was fantastic to get her perspective.
For my recent posts about the plan, and where the numbers comes from, I heard presentations from Sharon Gregson, spokeswoman for the Coalition for Child Care Advocates of BC (CCCABC), and Certified General Accountant Lynell Anderson, who works with both UBC’s Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP), and acts as treasurer for the CCCABC. This month, I even had the chance to ask a few questions about the plan to Emily Mlieczko, the Executive Director for the professional association of Early Childhood Educators of BC (ECEBC).
Whether it’s by group consensus, or personal choice, all three made a point of emphasizing the when in “when this plan comes into effect.” Read: it’s a matter of time.
I’ve worked in advocacy before, and to be honest, I love a positive attitude. You need one if you’re in the business of making change.
So, when my advisor essentially told me to enjoy my little campaign, but not to drink the Kool-aid, it was a wake-up call. Unbeholden to any political party and unencumbered by the need to protect her image, she flatly stated that she doesn’t see it happening. Her reasoning: Businesses won’t agree to it. They won’t accept the tax increases required to fund a system of publicly available and affordable childcare. (Though, of course, many businesses have, including the Surrey Board of Trade.)
Luckily, at the time of our conversation, I had already watched Generation Squeeze’s video of Warren Beach, CFO of Sierra Systems, agreeing that the business community in BC probably pays more than $300 million annually to specifically cover life/work conflicts of employees who are also parents of young children, and much more to replace the mothers who don’t return to the workforce after maternity leave. Paul Kershaw’s blog posts on the topic have even more to say about where those figures come from, but the point is clear: Businesses already pay for the lack of available childcare. Why wouldn’t they want to reallocate this unavoidable cost towards something that would actually help reduce the problem?
But she just wasn’t convinced.
The same objection is raised whenever the cost of $10/day plan comes up. Everyone gasps at the $1.5 billion price tag, and loses sight of the fact that the money is already being spent. The messy failure that is the childcare system in BC is costing millions of dollars to deliver, and millions more to the business community in its failure to do so. If re-elected, the BC Liberals promised to increase the cost of failure, with an additional $108 million to beef up the status quo – wherein BC has among the worst child poverty levels in the economically developed world.
When the status quo costs a fortune, fails to provide service to families who need it most, and costs businesses an additional $300 million annually to help it limp along, it’s probably time for a re-think. Governments find money when they need it. They’re already spending it. Supporting the $10/day plan isn’t about creating magic money from nowhere, it’s about using our money, and our brains, to create a better system.
Finally, our discussion about whether or not a plan for Integrated Early Care and Learning would come to BC came to a stalemate. She wasn’t going to be convinced, and I couldn’t agree to stop trying. Her insight was so valuable, though, because while I can’t agree with her point of view, many many many people do. And she’s right about one thing: The business community isn’t going to lobby for affordable access to quality childcare in BC. Even if they did believe it would benefit them, it’s just not their top priority.
So, make it yours. Read the information about the $10/day plan, and endorse it. Encourage your business to endorse it, too. It certainly won’t happen overnight but, like the advocates fighting to make it happen, you can choose to believe it’s just a matter of time.
