Face of Nation : Toronto’s mayor blasted Premier Doug Ford’s government Tuesday morning over cuts that jeopardize more than 3,000 new child care spaces, calling the province’s move “the wrong direction.”
Fifty-one new school-based daycares promised under the previous Liberal government will no longer have their operating costs covered by the province after they are built, according to a city staff report.
The Ministry of Education has asked the city to confirm that it will support $35 million a year in operating funding for the centres, and has said the projects will not proceed unless that money is committed by the end of August.
The city has already passed its 2019 budget and staff say they are not able to commit to this funding “given the current fiscal environment.”
“Our posture will be to take this up with the provincial government and say ‘they’re going the wrong way,’” Toronto Mayor John Tory said. “They are going the wrong way in terms of saying they are going to support less, by way of the planned increases put in place by the previous government, and addressing one of the really basic needs that people have in the city.”
The city is asking the province to consider the municipal budget cycle and push back the deadline for funding confirmation to at least Oct. 31 in order to give staff more time to assess and prioritize the 51 projects.
