An Environics poll done for the Alberta Federation of Labour says 78 per cent of Albertans supported “Universal, public child care so parents, especially mothers, can more easily go back to work and earn wages.”
“It’s clear Alberta parents have learned some lessons from COVID-19, even if their premier hasn’t,” said CCNow’s Morna Ballantyne. She noted that Jason Kenney’s UCP government ended a $25 per day child care pilot program (started by the previous government) at the end of June and has left child care and early learning out of the province’s post-COVID economic recovery plan.
The AFL’s Secretary Treasurer Siobhan Vipond said in a news release, “Women have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and this recession, yet the Kenney government refuses to even admit this fact”, said Vipond. “This government stubbornly refuses to use a gendered lens in policy making. If they did they would do the right thing and focus on policies, such as child care, which will improve the lives of women, families and our economy.”
