Am I out of touch with reality? I read in The Morning Star (Oct. 14) that Vernon’s mayor and some council members are advocating $10 a day child care. A spokesperson for the Early Childhood Educators of B.C.(ECEBC) said the $1.5 billion annual cost will pay for itself in three years.
Wow, just three years.
That leaves me wondering why the financial experts in Ottawa aren’t recommending such a self-sustaining educational program for all the provinces to insure Canada becomes the future leader of the knowledge-based global economy?
But wait a minute; the IMF recently said Canadians are endangering their future economic stability by carrying too much housing and consumer debt. It seems odd the IMF didn’t recommend a low-cost child care program. After all, it is self-financing, or so we are being told.
Maybe Canadians have to learn to be more conservative (that’s a dirty word in some circles) in our overall spending on nice to have personal luxuries and taxpayer-funded programs. Hey, I have an idea. All of those who believe the $1.5 billion ECEBC program will pay for itself in three years, please raise your hands.
Gee whiz, I can’t see many hands. Maybe I’m more in touch with reality than our local politicians after all.
Lloyd Atkins
Vernon
