Glebe Report

GLEBE REPORT MAILING ADDRESS:
P.O. BOX 4794, Station E, Ottawa, Ontario, US 5H9
Our office is in the Glebe Community Centre, 690 Lyon St
Telephone 236-4955
LETTERS
Government aid for daycare:
Is it generous enough?
EDITOR, GLEBE REPORT:
After five years of protests,
countless briefs and recommendations
from many individuals and
organi zations, the provincial
government has finally relented
and announced increases in daycare
funding.
The Honourable Keith Norton
has announced that an additional
$11 million dollars will be added
to the 1981 daycare budget.
At first glance this increase
indeed seems gratifying.
Expressions of anger coupled
with the prospect of an upcoming
election no doubt spurred the
provincial government into
action.
The issues in daycare have
remained the same over the
last 10 years.
Because there are not enough
subsidies to help operate centres,
the fees charged put the service
out of the reach of low-income
and even many middle-class
families. Daycare staff (99%
women) earn comparatively low
wages. Restraints have meant
virtually no expansion in service
and people have to take what they
can in the unlicensed babysitting
market.
The new policy deals with some
of these problems but not all.
There will be 1500 new subsidized
spaces in the province,
150 in Ottawa. There will be
$1.3 million dollars to start new
non-profit centres, $2.4 million
dollars distributed directlytothe
municipal day care budget,
$4`30,000 for handicapped children,
$950,000 to enhance informal
daycare, and $850,000 for a
public relations programme.
These proposals help but do
not solve the problems. For the
1,000 children currently on the
local waiting list the region will
receive 150 new spaces. How
much of the rest of the money is
to be spent in this area will depend
on the applications received
and the decision of provincial
authorities.
The salaries of daycare workers
show many inequalities yet
no mention of this problem was
made in the proposals.
There is, also, no mention of
making daycare more accessible
to a wider range of income
groups. In fact, the provincial
government has no sympathy for
middle income families. They
state, "Parents have the primary
responsibility for the basic care
of their children," and further.
Reader
liked
series
EDITOR., GLEBE REPORT:
I thought Jan Brummel's series
in the GLEBE REPORT--the
one about Glebe businesses--
was excellent.
I hope you'llhave more articles
about Glebe history and people
in the future.
E. WATSON SMITH
"The role of the Ministry has been
to enable access to needed
services for handicapped children
and children of families with
limited financial means. It is
thus the policy of the provincial
government to ignore the needs
of children who have parents in
the moderate and middle income
range. The future of these children
is thus left to the vagaries
of an unlicensed baby sitting
market.
The question that must be asked
at this point is this: Is this
initiative going to continue or is
it simply an election goody to be
repeated in another four years.
If it is the latter, the children
of Ottawa will not be well-served.
DAVID HAGERMAN
Too many
ads for
this reader
EDITOR, GLEBE REPORT:
The GLEBE REPORT is one
of our community's most essential
resources.
May I, however,bring to your
attention the paper's growing
tendency towards an excessive
amount of advertising.
Important as revenue is for
the paper's continuing success,
I believe that the balance between
advertising copy and
community news and photos has
passed an acceptable norm.
Such ads as the City of Ottawa's
full-page "Winterize"
promotion in the December,1980
issue serve as examples of what
is unproductive.
Perhaps this problem has
already come to your attention.
I hope that as you formulate
policies for the paper, you will
give this matter some consideration.
ALLISON DINGLE
"WINTER ICE"
A VERY BINDING ISSUE
About this country's situation,
Concerning talk of mass inflation,
And, about provincial separation ....
I think, after much consideration,
That we need "Nation Constipation ".
Cheese, I'm told, is very binding.
It keeps unwanteds from unwinding
And, THAT is what we should be finding ....
A great big cheese with a 'silver lining'
And, have this whole damned country dining.
What we need is one to lead.
Unafraid to tackle greed.
One who sees this country's need ....
Disregarding race or creed.
For this ... on bended knee, I plead.
'Tis then this country's situation,
And, all this talk of mass inflation,
And .... provincial separation ....
Will have had consideration ....
And, we'll have our "Nation Constipation".
E.W,SMITH
BY GLEBE RESIDENT AND POET
Photo: Jinny Slyfield
Coin-operated Laundry
now open
Dry cleaning opening
by the end of the month
Bank St. Laundry
& Dry Cleaning
779 Bank St. 233-4254
7:30 a.m. - 9 p.m. 7 days a week
January 24, 1981, GLEBE REPORT 5