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Letter: Worthwhile platform plank

Green Party is placing its bets squarely with those who would make free child care a priority
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Penticton Western News letters to the editor.

Worthwhile platform plank

Last week Tom Fletcher, Victoria columnist for Black Press, favoured The Green Party of British Columbia with comment on their platform of free daycare for kids less than two years old (Penticton Western News, April 12, Green policy still in daycare).

In his remarks Fletcher offers the province-wide Strong Start Program as an already existent after-school program. It is not an “after school program” which usually means care for young ones until mom or dad picks up the child after work. Few, if any, B.C. public schools offer that. Strong Start is free. It’s a great program where parents, grandparents and other caregivers can regularly get together with kids and educators to do early learning .

Fletcher’s criticism of Green Party policy on free childcare comes to rest where Mr. Fletcher’s arguments often come to rest. The taxpayer won’t stand for it.

The fact that such advanced child care resources already exist in the world, especially Scandinavia, is because folks there are willing to pay to have their governments move forward with good social policy like free child care.

Folks who consider providing good resources for their children and grandchildren will often see an advanced childcare program as part of that.

It appears that the Green Party is placing its bets squarely with those who would make free child care for families a priority. It’s a platform plank that all parties might consider worthwhile.

Dave Cursons

Cawston