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Ontario Elementary Teachers Plan to Strike in December
Source: Toronto Star, November 28, 2012
Excerpt: "Ontario’s elementary teachers plan to strike in December — promising parents three days’ notice to make alternate arrangements — as their escalating dispute with the province now threatens to shut down classrooms. The surprise announcement that families should expect every public school to be affected at some point in the next month threw the province’s education system into further chaos, and was followed by a statement from the secondary teachers’ union that all bargaining is suspended."
Alberta Falls Short in Child-Care Funding, Says Group
Source: CBC, November 28, 2012
Excerpt: "A provincial advocacy group says child-care resources in Alberta are falling behind too many other Canadian provinces. Public Interest Alberta says child care isn't growing with the population and is forcing some parents to stop working in order to accommodate child-care needs."
TD Economics Says Child Care Should be a Top Spending Priority for Governments After Deficits Eliminated
Source: Toronto Star, November 26, 2012
Excerpt: "Public investment in child care should be a top priority when Canada’s fiscal books are balanced, says one of the country’s top bank economists. The "widespread and long-lasting" economic, social and health benefits for children, families and society far outweigh the costs, says TD Bank Chief Economist Craig Alexander in the first-ever analysis of the issue by a Canadian bank. "It is very much an economic topic," Alexander said in an interview. "If you are concerned with skills development, productivity and innovation, you should really care about this subject.""
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Kindergarten Quandary: Half-Day or Full? At-Risk Kids or All Kids?
Source: Edmonton Journal, November 25, 2012
Excerpt: "The province is poised to spend millions of dollars on full-day kindergarten for Alberta families, a plan many educators endorse as valuable for children’s future learning. But that push to get five-year-olds in school full time is sparking new debate about whether daylong classes are actually what’s best for children. The issue arose last week at the Alberta School Boards Association (ASBA) fall general meeting... Trustees there decided the association will push the province for mandatory half-day kindergarten and for provincially funded full-day kindergarten for at-risk kids. But they voted against asking the province to fund a full-day program for all schoolchildren.... Physician, author and former teacher Dr. Gabor Maté delivered the keynote speech to trustees..."
Female Academics Excluded From Recognition and Equal Pay: Study
Source: Globe and Mail, November 21, 2012
Excerpt: "They battle “cronyism.” They make less money than their colleagues. They take care of kids or parents after work. Two decades after women began to outnumber men on university campuses, those gains in the student population haven’t translated into many victories for female researchers and faculty. These are the conclusions of a new report, commissioned by the federal government two years ago after a prominent research granting program failed to choose even one woman for 19 awards. The 252-page study from the Council of Canadian Academies presents a highly critical look at the barriers limiting the progress of women’s academic careers and argues that Canada is not fulfilling its commitments to gender equity as a result. Instead, powerful stereotypes and institutional arrangements are excluding women from consideration for recognition and promotion. Indira Samarasekera, an engineering professor who is now president of the University of Alberta, says the situation has improved since she was a young parent but now, as then, child care remains women’s biggest challenge in academia."
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Ontario Law Society Poised to Drop Parental Leave Program
Source: CBC, November 21, 2012
Excerpt: "The Law Society of Upper Canada is set to cancel a pilot project that helps female lawyers keep their law offices afloat while they take a short maternity leave. The program, known as the Parental Leave Assistance Program, was set up three years ago. It arose out of a recommendation in a 2008 report titled Retention of Women in Private Practice. It showed a large percentage of female lawyers were forced to shut down their law offices and even leave the profession when they had a child."
Lack of Cheap Daycare Major Cause of Child Poverty, Says Advocacy Groups
Source: Globe and Mail, November 21, 2012
Excerpt: "The lack of affordable daycare in British Columbia is a significant problem for many--not just immigrants--and a major contributor to the province’s childhood poverty rates, according to child and youth advocacy coalition First Call. The coalition, which is made up of more than 90 provincial and regional partners, released a report Wednesday fingering B.C. as having the second-highest rate of child poverty in Canada, just behind Manitoba. The rate in 2010 was 14.3 per cent, amounting to about 119,000 poor children... While there are a myriad of contributing factors, the cost of child care is a major issue for families and often has ripple effects: If a parent can’t secure it, it’s unlikely he or she can sustain sufficient and meaningful employment."
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Ending Universal Child Benefits Could Lift 174,000 Kids Out of Poverty
Source: Hamilton Spectator, November 21, 2012
Excerpt: "Ottawa should eliminate child tax benefits and credits to most Canadian parents and instead direct the money to the lowest-income families, an anti-poverty coalition recommends in a report released Wednesday. If the child tax benefit, the child fitness tax credit and the universal child care benefit were nixed and the money went towards a child benefit supplement for families making less than $25,000 a year, about 174,000 kids would be lifted out of poverty, Campaign 2000 says."
National Child Day Marked by Failure to Meet Children’s Needs
Source: National Union of Public and General Employees, November 20, 2012 (news release)
Excerpt: "On a day that should be celebrated for achievements made in child protection and treatment, Ontario is shortchanging its most vulnerable young people by failing to provide adequate funding for their needs, says the President of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE)."
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Daycare Linked to Obesity Risk in Kids, Quebec Study Finds
Source: Globe and Mail, November 19, 2012
Excerpt: "Could daycare be putting your preschooler at risk for obesity? A new study of Quebec children has found that kids who attended centre-based daycare were 1.65 times more likely than children in parental care to be overweight or obese between the ages of 4 and 10. Lead researcher Dr. Marie-Claude Geoffroy says the findings can’t be interpreted as showing causality between daycare and obesity, but they do suggest something may be going on there that contributes.... In addition to the daycare finding, the study also found a link (albeit less statistically certain, according to researchers) between care by a relative, such as a grandparent, and a 1.5 times greater chance of being overweight or obese. The researchers controlled for other factors linked to obesity, including socioeconomic status and duration of breastfeeding."
Willowbrae Aims to be McDonald’s of Daycare
Source: Chronicle Herald, November 18, 2012
Excerpt: "Just as a big Big Mac in Alberta tastes the same as one purchased in Nova Scotia, Willowbrae Childcare Academy intends to offer parents coast-to-coast consistent and reliable service. Halifax entrepreneur Wayne Cochrane launched the flagship Willowbrae Childcare Academy in Burnside Park in Dartmouth in 2011; a year later, the daycare is doubling in size, three more are on tap to open in metro Halifax and 15 other locations are in the works across Canada and the United States.... The Willowbrae business model taps entrepreneur investors to finance the daycare, hire a facility director and an on-staff chef. Even the facility’s accounting and bookkeeping needs are outsourced so the director can focus on daily operations.... Every Willowbrae facility is outfitted with cameras in every room and outside so parents can, at any point in the day, check in on their child. Email reports that chronicle the day’s events detailing what and how much the child ate and their bathroom and sleep habits is sent to parents nightly."
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Edleun Continues its Growth with Agreements to Acquire Centres in Edmonton and Ottawa
Source: CNW, November 18, 2012 (news release)
Excerpt: "Edleun Group, Inc.... announced today that it has entered into agreements to acquire two child care centres in Edmonton and a Montessori centre in Ottawa. Aggregate consideration is $1.8 million for 354 licensed child care spaces. All of the centres are located in leased premises under long term leases at market rental rates."
QC: PQ Promises to Complete Famous Daycare Network, Currently Plagued by Backlogs
Source: CTV News, November 12, 2012
Excerpt: "Quebec's new premier says she plans to complete a project she launched 15 years ago and wants to bring low-cost public daycare to every Quebec family that wants it. Premier Pauline Marois, who as education minister in 1997 introduced the landmark public daycare program, promised Monday to iron out its flaws within four years.... Her government plans to create 28,000 new spaces -- about half of which were promised earlier this year by the previous government, before the provincial election."
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AB: Alberta Reshapes Education with Groundbreaking New Bill
Source: Globe & Mail, November 12, 2012
Excerpt: "It's a sweeping new education law years in the making, an experiment meant to overhaul the rules governing Alberta’s schools and watched closely by other provinces. Alberta’s proposed Education Act boosts efforts to combat bullying both at school and online and grants broad new powers to local school boards."
ON: What the City’s Childcare Needs is Some Good Old-Fashion Promotion
Source: National Post, November 10, 2012
Excerpt: "Overhauling our system to mimic Belgium’s would require massive legislative changes, which aren’t going to happen any time soon. But it’s worth taking a closer look at the importance Belgians place on education and communication about childcare. The value, for instance, placed on early childhood educators and the resources made available to guide new parents through the process of finding care for their babies are just a couple of the things Toronto can take notes on and adopt."
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Atkinson Foundation Announces New Executive Director
Source: Toronto Star, November 7, 2012
Excerpt: "Colette Murphy wants to help build Toronto from the ground up. Throughout her two decades in the civil society sector, she’s been a passionate supporter of grassroots initiatives. Now, as she takes the helm at the Atkinson Charitable Foundation, she hopes to continue her work on a larger scale. "I have always been interested in how change happens and how we can contribute to positive social and economic change," Murphy said."
Four Is the Magic Number
Source: The Link, November 6, 2012
Excerpt: "Throughout the strikes, protests and general commotion of last spring, access to education was the concern du jour among all those who donned red squares to protest tuition hikes.... But access to education depends on more than what’s in a 19-year-old’s bank account. With the hikes cancelled and post-secondary students back in class, the accessibility question is now being asked about a new cohort of Quebecers—preschoolers.... But with funding shortages leading to a lack of spaces in these programs, some are falling through the cracks. This is especially true of those living in poverty, who experts say are also less likely to receive educational attention at home... With this in mind, the Conseil supérieur de l’éducation, an independent advisory body within the Quebec government, released a report in late October highlighting the need for more early childhood education in Quebec, focusing specifically on four-year-olds."
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If They Won’t Listen to the Experts, Maybe They’ll Listen to the Accountants
Source: The Independent, November 6, 2012
Excerpt: "There are, in this world, some things that are so intuitive they shouldn’t require a commissioned study by a certified accounting firm to "prove". But, when certified accountants are commissioned and rise to the occasion, perhaps their reports will prevail where common sense, thus far, has not. One such example is a report released in late October on the viability of commercial child care in this country. Commissioned by the Coalition of Childcare Advocates of British Columbia, it's a report that this province needs to be paying attention to."
Autism Research Chair Will Look at Bullying
Source: Toronto Star, November 4, 2012 (text and video)
Excerpt: "A York University professor will get $2 million to spend studying the lopsided rates of mental health problems among children and adults with autism, including the effects of bullying. Jonathan Weiss, an assistant professor in York’s department of psychology, has been awarded the new five-year research chair position, funded through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research."
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Better Serving and Teaching Preschool Children: A Question of Access, Quality and Continuity of Services (pdf)
Source: Quebec Superior Council on Education, October 24, 2012 (media release)
Excerpt: "Today the Quebec Superior Council on Education published a statement entitled Better serving and teaching preschool children: a question of access, quality and continuity of services. How does Quebec society currently respond to the educational needs of four- and five-year-olds? What should it do to better foster their development and learning? These are the central questions in this statement. The Council found that Quebec has made remarkable progress over the past 15 years in terms of the provision of preschool services and services for families. Despite the fact Quebec stacks up well when compared to other societies in North America, a number of challenges remain in terms of access, quality and the continuity of services for preschool children."
Medicare's Front Door, Primary Health Care, Needs a Remodel
Source: Globe and Mail, October 31, 2012
Excerpt: "Reforming primary care requires purposeful action by governments and health system leaders. In Alberta, under the leadership of Premier Alison Redford, this includes building on our existing primary care networks and introducing a complementary team-based model called Family Care Clinics. These clinics will be one-stop portals to not only health but, eventually, other community services. Longer-term plans for Family Care Clinics include building linkages to early childhood development services, public health, education, continuing care, and mental health services, and to reach out to underserved populations."
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Nunavut Childcare System Needs More Money, More GN Support: MLA
Source: Nunatsiaq News, October 30, 2012
Excerpt: "Jeannie Ugyuk knows a thing or two about the ailing daycare system in Nunavut: the MLA for Nattilik previously worked as a teacher, hamlet councillor and social worker in Taloyoak. "We have a brand new [daycare] building that operated for about a year or two, and it’s been closed for the last three years because there’s a lack of funding or no proper management on the local level," ... Ugyuk called for block funding for daycares in Nunavut, saying the benefits of early childhood education puts children at an advantage going into kindergarten. “I’d like them to review the subsidy for families and parents," Ugyuk said. "We don’t have enough economics going on in Nunavut to have a self-sustaining daycare just from user fees.""
Why do we Spend so Little on Generations Under Age 45?
Source: Globe and Mail, October 29, 2012
Excerpt: "There is a generational imbalance in Canada’s policy priorities. Canadians under age 45 face a precipitous drop in their standard of living. But government spending prioritizes Canadians over 55 – the very generations that benefited the most from a national economy that more than doubled in size since 1976. It’s time to adapt policy to find better balance..."
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