Protesters gathered outside MLA Tany Yao’s office Tuesday morning.
The group hoped to bring awareness to the changes being made to the child care field.
According to the Alberta government’s website, those changes include discontinuing the Child Care Accreditation Funding Program and the Staff Attraction Incentive.
One of the protesters, Hope Moffatt, has worked in child care for most of her life.
She said that by changing the accreditation program, there may be changes to quality of care for children.
“What we know about childcare: our programs have been all working to get affordability, accessibility and quality as part of our childcare system, and they’ve just dropped the quality piece.”
Yao said he’s spoken with the Minister of Children’s Services.
“From the Minister’s perspective, her job is to address our most vulnerable and that’s children not just in Fort McMurray, but across the province.”
He said that the changes are being made to address issues like growing caseloads involving neglected children.
The Staff Attraction Incentive, which will no longer be available after April 1, gives up to $5,000 to new and experienced staff to attract certified workers and supervisors to the child care profession.
Moffatt noted that the northern living allowance, which is $1,040 of a child care worker’s monthly income, will also be cut.
“The loss of it will mean a lot of these women will not be able to continue and that will mean child care closed like it is in a few centres today.”
Yao, however noted that not all childcare centres in the region rely on subsidies from the province, so some will be able to continue without potentially changing their rates.
The Benefit Contribution Grant will also be cut as of April 1.
The grant is used to offset some mandatory payroll contributions like the Canadian Pension Plan.
Without the grant, employers will have to pay the difference, potentially causing an increase in child care cost.
