Parents' groups are asking the government to commit to quickly terminating public funding for daycare lobby groups.

Helen Ward, President of Kids First Parent Association of Canada, says public funds are being used to fund the daycare lobby. "Code Blue for Child Care" is one lobby campaign launched by the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada. Information released from the government to Kids First says that the CCAAC received $364,777 while the Child Care Federation received $1,429,591 over an unstated period.

The Child Care Resource and Research Unit is fully funded by HRDC with in-kind support from the University of Toronto. So-called research includes papers critical of "the ideology of the family," "conservative family values," and "liberal ideology." Its stated purpose is "advancing" a universal daycare system according to its website. The word "advancing" was recently removed.

"This funding amounts to a political sponsorship scandal. There needs to be an immediate freeze of these groups' assets and an Auditor General's audit. Whatever your position on daycare is, it is clear that tax dollars are not supposed to be spent on lobbying. Millions of pubic dollars are paying for this undemocratic fa?ade of grassroots activism, for petitions, form letters, post cards, offices, lobbyists' salaries, computers.

"Parents don't see themselves as a special interest. Groups like ours cannot lobby on a level playing field, even though we represent the majority view that parents should not be punished for not using daycare. We are 100 percent volunteer run and not funded by government, corporations, unions, or religious organizations," said Ward.

The last federal budget provided an additional $100 million to daycare related researchers. Kids First website www.kidsfirstcanada.org lists daycare-lobby groups receiving government funding including the Child Care Federation of Canada, the Childcare Resource and Research Unit, the Caledon Institute, Campaign 2000, and the Canadian Policy Research Network.

The list of corporate and union backing includes the Royal Bank of Canada, the World Bank, RAND Corporation, The Economist magazine, United Steel Workers of America, Canadian Labour Federation, Public Service Alliance, Canadian Auto Workers, and CUPE.

"The CCAAC was actually founded by the federal government in 1983. They say their goal is a no-fee daycare system like the public schools, and they want it for ages 0-12: that could cost $100 billion yearly. We are seeing millions going to bureaucrats, academics and lobbyists while the vast majority of families are marginalized and forced to pay the tax-bill. The government must stop punishing parents for caring for their own children," says Ward.

Kids First and others are calling on Harper to defend parents' and children's Charter rights to equality before the law and cease preferential treatment of any child care form.

NOTES

1. Federal budget provided $100 million to lobby-researchers: "The Government of Canada commits…$100 million for the development of a new accountability package that will support improved research and the development of common evidence-based indicators and benchmarks."
   
   http://www.fin.gc.ca/budget05/bp/early
   
   
2. The Childcare Resource and Research Unit at the University of Toronto is HQ for the daycare lobby in Canada. It is funded by Social Development Canada. "CRRU receives funding from Social Development Partnerships, Social Development Canada, for which we are most appreciative. The University of Toronto provides continuous in-kind support."
   
   Their massive website states that daycare "advocacy" and "advancing" daycare is its core purpose: "The Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU) focuses on research and policy resources, advancing a universal, high quality, publicly-funded, not-for-profit, inclusive system of early childhood education and care in Canada."
   
   Note: This statement has been recently altered to eliminate "advancing".
   
   http://www.childcarecanada.org/about/
   
   
3. Funding from government to groups lobbying for daycare:
   
   
   • Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada http://www.childcareadvocacy.ca/resources/pdf/ccaac_annualreport04.pdf p.4
     
     
   • http://www.childcareadvocacy.ca/resources/pdf/ccaac_annualreport05.pdf p7 (Note: This Report contains no financial statements at all but mentions receiving "funding 2004 for a major 3 year project from Social Development Partnerships Program".)
     
     
   • The Child Care Federation Of Canada http://www.cccf-fcsge.ca/aboutus/annualreport_en.pdf p.7
     
     
   • Canadian Council on Social Development http://www.ccsd.ca/pubs/2003/ar-0304.pdf p.2
     
     
   • Canadian Social Policy Research Network www.cprn.com/documents/33894_en.pdf p. 42
     
     
   • Campaign 2000 http://www.campaign2000.ca/about/proj.html
     
     
   • Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC www.cccabc.ca
     
     
   • Westcoast Child Care Resource Centre http://www.wstcoast.org/
     
     
   • (BC) Child Care Advocacy Forum http://www.cccabc.bc.ca/forum/index.html
     
     
   • Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care http://www.childcareontario.org/library/annualreport/OCBCCAnnualReport05.pdf p 4 and 11
     
     
   • (BC) Provincial Childcare Council—child care is defined as non-parental care in BC law http://www.mcf.gov.bc.ca/childcare/policy.htm
     
     
   • The Caledon Institute http://www.caledoninst.org/
   
   
   
4. Union and Corporate sector lobbying for preferential funding for daycare:
   
   Unions: some are listed as CCAAC funders at http://www.childcareadvocacy.ca/resources/pdf/ccaac_annualreport05.pdf p5
   
   
   • National Union of Public and General Employees
   • Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers Union of Canada
   • Public Service Alliance of Canada
   • CFL
   • CAW
   • United Steelworkers of America
   • CUPE
   • BCGEU
   • OFC
   • Canadian Union of Postal Workers
   
   Corporate:
   
   
   • Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
   • The World Bank
     
   • The Royal Bank
     Video: http://www1.worldbank.org/hdnetwork/External/cy/ccoffey.htm
     Text: http://www.rbc.com/newsroom/20050928coffey.html
   • The Economist magazine
   • The RAND Corporation
     http://www.rand.org/research_areas/children/
     http://www.rand.org/labor/
   • The Vancouver Board of Trade
   
   
   
5. CCAAC established by the Federal government:
   
   
   • "in line with the policy of promoting citizen participation, the federal government helped to establish, and then to fund, the first national voice for child care, the Cdn Day Care Advocacy Association."
     
     Rianne Mahon, "No Small Matter: Child Policy Research", for the 18th Annual Davidson Dunton Research Lecture, March 21, 2001, p 15. Canadian Policy Research Network http://www.cprn.org/en/doc.cfm?doc=717
     
     
   • CBC archives http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-69-1710-11785/life_society/day_care/clip7 "Did You Know?"
     
     
6. Free daycare goal: "CCAAC's goal is that eventually child care as an educational program would have no parent fee as does the public school system." This goal is buried in footnote-like note at bottom of final page of "From Patchwork to Framework: Highlights of a Child Care Strategy for Canada" 2004 (a very influential document)
   
   http://www.childcareadvocacy.ca/resources/pdf/framework_highlights.pdf