BC Liberals promise $10-a-day child care for household incomes under $65,000

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — The BC Liberals promised Friday to move ahead with a child care plan it says the NDP failed to deliver on.

Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson pledged, if elected, to implement a $1 billion plan to bring $10-a-day child care to low-income families, while making it more affordable for others.

“John Horgan’s fake promise to parents was never going to happen,” Wilkinson says of the $10-a-day child care plan by the NDP three years ago.

“Only two per cent of child care spaces in B.C. are currently offered at the $10-a-day rate after John Horgan himself admitted it was simply ‘a slogan’ after the 2017 election campaign.”

BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson in North Vancouver announcing plans for affordable daycare plans!
⁦@BT_Vancouver⁩ ⁦@CityNewsVAN⁩ ⁦@NEWS1130⁩ ⁦@OMNITelevision⁩ pic.twitter.com/K6fV0tGWIa

— von adler (@adler_von65) October 9, 2020

Under the Liberal plan, families with annual household incomes of up to $65,000 would have access to $10-a-day child care. There would also be stepped rates: $20 a day for families with combined incomes up to $90,000; and $30 a day for those with incomes up to $125,000.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has hit low-income families harder than most, which is why $10-a-day child care now, not later — on top of eliminating the PST for one year — will mean huge savings for those who need it most,” adds Wilkinson, who was at Bee Haven Child Care in North Vancouver.

READ ALSO:

• NDP recommits to $10-a-day child care in B.C.

• B.C. works to find childcare solutions ahead of fall semester

• BC NDP releases plan to keep shipyards competitive, add jobs

A similarly subsidized child care program in Quebec saw government revenues from income taxes of parents back in the workforce, mostly women, covered more than 100 per cent of the program’s cost, according to the Liberals.

Wilkinson noted the party also plans to create thousands of new child care spaces, to be announced in coming days.

Last month, Horgan recommitted to implementing his party’s a 10-year plan for $10 a day child care in B.C., if re-elected on Oct. 24.

On Friday the Liberals also promised to cap online delivery charges at 15 per cent, to help restaurants struggling during the pandemic.