Local MLAs Announce Capital Funds For Family Y Day Care

Saturday, February 25, 2006 10:48 AM

Education Minister/Deputy Premier Shirley Bond rolls out some play-doh with children prior to making the capital funding announcement

All three Prince George area MLAs were on hand for the announcement of a half-million dollar capital grant to the Family Y's Early Learning Centre.

Currently, the Y's preschool operates in a rented facility with no room for expansion. Today's money will go towards a $550,000.00 addition to the existing building to allow the current childcare facility to more than double the number of spaces from 20 to 50.

"This new facility will completely revolutionize how we deliver early learning services to the people of Prince George and region," says Family Y CEO Colin Reid. He is also hopeful there will soon be an announcement that the Child Care Resource and Referral Office will also be moved to the Y and be part of the new expanded facility.

The two story facility will take over the L-shaped space as shown at right and will close in the space from the existing stairway in the foreground to the building section in the background of the photo at right.

Education Minister, Shirley Bond, says "This funding shows that our province is following through on its commitment to be there for the families and children of B.C.." Bond says, "By encouraging a love of learning at an early age, the Family Y is helping local children get a head start in life." Minister Bond says surveys indicate one in every four B.C. children enter kindergarten, "not ready to learn" and this expansion will help better support families and the children in the critical pre-school years.

The project will begin in April and is expected to be complete by August.

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Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2006 10:48 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Gofaster on February 25 2006 4:22 PM

Looks like Ms Bond has found something she is capable of doing without help. But why is the gov't doing this? The Y sells memberships and charges admittance and yet they need goverment help. What a way to make a nice tidy profit and make the share holder happy.....

Posted by: ammonra on February 25 2006 5:37 PM

1) The Federal government will be giving money for day care in the not too distand future, so Bond was some of the credit.

2) After the Charlie fiasco the Liberals want to show they care about children.

Those are the reasons, I suspect

Posted by: ammonra on February 25 2006 5:39 PM

Dyslexia again, that's "wants" and "distant".

Posted by: diplomat on February 26 2006 11:09 AM

The above 3 comments are negative, dismissive and cynical only because the contribution to the Family 'Y' was made by the Liberal government!

Had this been an NDP announcement the writers would be tripping over their own feet in their haste to get to the microphone to let the whole world know what a wonderful thing it was!

If it is indeed so offensive and wrong why not implore the intended recipient to refuse it and have it go to some other community which may be more inclined to accept it?

Posted by: ammonra on February 26 2006 12:34 PM

I, at least, did not say it was wrong, nor did I criticise it. Please don't put words in my mouth. I responded to a query as to why it was done. My two points are my belief as to that reason. Nevertheless, any improvement in services is welcome, Liberal originated or not.

Posted by: diplomat on February 26 2006 1:36 PM

Ammonra: "2) After the Charlie fiasco the Liberals want to show they care about children."

In my opinion, that is indeed a cynical statement. You know as well as I do that we never had a government in B.C. (including the present one) that did not care about children.

The fiasco that you are referring to involved the placement of a native child into the care of a violent native uncle by a native run social services branch.

The natives asked to have and were given greater control over their own affairs, and that is the way it should be.

Your words are inflammatory and were not placed into your mouth by anyone except yourself.

Posted by: ammonra on February 26 2006 2:09 PM

Reduced funding to the Children's Ministry, including cancelling the position of Children's commissioner, was the cause of a failure to give proper direction to social workers. That is how that situation arose, according to the inquest evidence. Liberal Government funding policy has led to over 700 uninvestigated incidents. Clearly, this government put saving money before providing services to children. They should be doubly damned, as they severely, and properly, criticised the NDP previously for a similar attitude. An attitude the NDP was successfully working to correct.

Unfortunately for the children involved, Campbell did not put tax money where his mouth was, and underfunded the ministry after his election as Premier. Now he and his ministers undoubtedly want to try to correct the impressions they have created.

For the sake of the children I hope they reinstitute the processes started by the NDP that they cancelled, including reinstating the Children's Commissioner.

These events are facts. I am not being cynical, I am trying to correctly evaluate their actions. To you it may appear to be damning them. If that is the case, then so be it. They deserve it. Campbell put saving money before children, and I find that appalling.

Posted by: diplomat on February 26 2006 2:51 PM

I am going to reply to your latest only by stating this:

NDP Premier Bob Rae did the same fiscal acrobatics in Ontario that the B.C. NDP pulled off here.

Ontario is STILL wrestling with the aftermath of Rae's ballooning of Ontario's debt to 125 Billion dollars.

In fact, Ontario was becoming de-industrialized under the NDP and jobs were being lost by the tens of thousands as industry was pulling out and re-locating to south of the border.

It had nothing to do with any Asian flu either, just as no other Canadian province suffered from any Asian flu during the decade of the nineties except B.C.

The doubling of our provincial debt by the NDP has increased our DAILY interest charges from 3.5 million to 7 million dollars.

That is a lot of money that is going to the banking corporations, to the detriment of education, healthcare and infrastructure.

Facts can be very disturbing and that is why those who got us into that fiscal mess don't want anybody to remember them anymore, especially their own supporters.

Have a good day!

Subject closed.

Posted by: ammonra on February 26 2006 3:17 PM

Unbelievable! We are now expected to believe that not only are the BC NDP responsible for everything that has gone wrong under Campbell's Liberal government, but that Bob Rae in Ontario is responsible as well. Apparently Harris had nothing to do with it.

Take responsibility!

Posted by: ammonra on February 26 2006 3:21 PM

P.S.
You keep referring to the provincial debt. How much more has it risen under the Liberals during their five years as government? I recall they shovelled the $1.5 billion surplus left by the NDP into the back pockets of their friends, then borrowed billions more their first couple of years as government. How much does that total? It always seems to be missing from your comments.

Posted by: diplomat on February 26 2006 6:48 PM

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Posted by: acrider54 on February 27 2006 6:15 AM

With Shirley around I'm surprized the desk and kids chairs are still there. Probably had to bring them in so Shirley could sit down.