Hundreds of low-income parents are worried the City of Ottawa might cut 700 subsidized daycare spaces to trim the budget by $5 million.
City staff made the recommendation as part of an effort to reduce spending by $35 million. And while a private company has agreed to save Ottawa's royal swans from the financial squeeze, some families wonder who is going to help rescue their children.
"When they are thinking about cutting all these subsidy spots, it's basically saying we are for childhood poverty," said Kim Howe, a single mother of four who nearly faced poverty when her husband left three years ago.
"Even if you have just two children, pretty much your entire salary is being spent on childcare. For me, it would have been a choice of do I feed my kids or do I pay for (this)?"
Instead, Howe applied for a municipal childcare subsidy and returned to full-time work as a registered nurse.
"I would be on welfare and my children, they work really hard in school, and I think a lot of that is because they see their mother working really hard," she said."
Ottawa has about 7,500 subsidized daycare spaces. The Ontario government used to cover 80 per cent of the cost, but their share has dropped to 72 per cent recently, said Aaron Burry, the city's community services manager.
"We are simply not going to be in a position to be able to fund and sustain this solely on property tax investments," Burry told CTV Ottawa.
"We need them from other levels of government."
The final decision rests with city council.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Natalie Pierosara
