Trudeau talks daycare costs with parents

PM tells reporters Newfoundland and Labrador in position to offer clean-energy solutions to country and world

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau high-fived a child and talked to another through the window of a playhouse while visiting a St. John’s daycare centre Tuesday morning, May 17, while he was in the province to welcome Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, who arrived to start a three-day visit to Canada.

Trudeau, accompanied by Premier Andrew Furey, reminded parents and reporters at the daycare of a March announcement that $10-a-day childcare will be a reality next year in the province, two years ahead of schedule.

Both levels of government had reached a $15-per-day fee for licensed childcare, down from $25-per-day in 2021, with an average of $10-perday to come in 2023.

Trudeau said affordable childcare not only provides children with a good start in life, but offers families better choices and options to avoid having to sacrifice careers for family.

“Certainly what I heard from a number of parents here today is that opportunity and the choices that are afforded by affordable childcare have made a huge difference already,” Trudeau said.

“The exciting thing is that this year Newfoundland and Labrador is able to bring the average price down from $25 a day to $15 a day, and by next year it will be down to $10 per day for families right across the province. This year families are saving an average of $5,000, which, at a time when we know that gas prices are high and groceries are expensive, that extra money is making a huge difference and is something that we know makes a real impact in people’s lives. We know there is more to do.”

A pre-kindergarten pilot program will also launch in Newfoundland and Labrador in September that is expected to create additional regulated childcare spaces. At full implementation, it is expected to create approximately 3,100 regulated spaces for four-year-olds by 2025-2026, which will open up existing childcare spaces for younger children.

Furey said the childcare plan comes at the right time, when every family is feeling the pinch of the rising cost of living.

“We all appreciate the cost of living is a stress and anxiety for every Canadian, not just Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. It is something that every family is talking about right now,” Furey said. “We have to look creatively at how we can alleviate it to try to provide relief to families in stress, and the childcare deal is coming online at the exact time it is hitting the pocketbook of families.”

CONTROVERSIAL ENERGY

In early April the federal government gave environmental approval for what had become a controversial Bay du Nord offshore oil project off Newfoundland’s east coast.

Environmental groups claim the decision showed a lack of government commitment to confront climate change.

Trudeau said his government, over the past seven years, has been putting massive amounts of money into the transformation of the country’s energy mix “towards more renewables, towards new innovations, (and) hydrogen is something we’ve done a lot of talking about.”

“We’ve worked a lot with European countries right now who are looking very aggressively to shift away from their reliance on natural gas from Russia and oil from Russia, so this is something we’ve already been making investments in that I think we need to accelerate as the world understands, not just the imperative of climate change, but the imperative of being reliant on supply chains that sometimes originate in difficult parts of the world,” Trudeau said.

“The ability to build a stronger future is something, that quite frankly to be honest, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have always been a part of. The expertise that has been developed here in the energy sector, yes, first the conventional energy sector, but now tremendous enthusiasm for wind and renewals, is going to serve not just Newfoundland and Labrador in good stead, but the entire country in good stead as people here innovate and do the hard work that they’ve always done to bring solutions forward for everyone.”

Furey said the province is in the perfect position during this time of energy transition.

“We have the petroleum products, which we all know responsibility, recognizing climate change, that we have to transition away from, but we have an abundance of clean, renewable energy that can be part of Canada’s roadmap to net zero, but also the world,” Furey said.

“Germany and other European countries are betting large on hydrogen. We have the ability with our deep-sea ports, our abundance of wind, and a workforce that is used to transitioning in that real climate that we are perfectly positioned right now to capitalize on this time of disruption in the energy market. We can be the battery for the eastern seaboard through transmission, we can be a source of energy for Europe and we can continue to supply the green, clean hydroelectric capacity that we have.”