A stroller brigade will take to the streets of 91原创 this weekend with the goal of making child care a federal election issue.
The Stroller Brigade for Child Care is a peaceful local march happening in communities across British Columbia who want to address affordability, accessibility and quality of child care available.
The march in 91原创 will take place on Saturday from 1 to 2 p.m. at the 91原创 Events Centre playground.
The idea of the march is to bring families together and talk about the significance of continued investment in early learning and child care, according to Alicia Rempel, facilitator for 91原创 Children Committee, an organizer of the event.
Rempel said the march will be a place for families to get information about child care in 91原创, while learning about the related issues in the communities.
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She said the province has made progress with addressing affordability of child care, but there is still room for improvement.
鈥淭he challenge is there鈥檚 just not enough spaces and there鈥檚 not enough early childhood educators in the field,鈥� said Rempel. 鈥淪o we鈥檙e getting child care centres in 91原创 who have capacity to take more kids, meaning space in their building or facility, but don鈥檛 have the staff.鈥�
Rempel said government officials also need to address the low level of pay for early childhood educators which has a ripple effect.
鈥淭he pay is just not there,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey really need to work on something at the pay scale鈥� we鈥檙e certainly not going to get quality people into the job and we鈥檙e not recruiting enough.鈥�
Rempel said there is no federal party platform that adequately addresses child care, and she hopes to see the leaders make it a more prominent election issue.
For information about the march visit their Facebook page
joti.grewal@blackpress.ca
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