Saskatchewan’s official opposition is calling on the government to close all childcare centres in the province immediately.
“To slow the spread of COVID-19, we need to close all childcare centres, not just those attached to schools, and we need childcare solutions for essential workers that don’t involve grouping those workers’ kids together in significant numbers,” said Ryan Meili, the NDP’s leader.
For essential workers, the NDP is calling on the province to provide care within small groups of less than seven kids or even have care providers take care of the workers’ kids right in their homes.
The province has limited all daycare facilities to a maximum of eight children unless they can configure the facility so that a maximum of eight children are kept in room and be in accordance with the Saskatchewan child care guidelines for care.
Child care facilities in schools, which were closed, will be re-purposed to provide child care services to support staff in health care and other employees who are delivering services related to the pandemic response, the government annouced March 20.
The NDP’s call to close down childcare centres comes after the YMCA in Regina said it was closing two of its centres for at least 14 days after finding out one of their families is being tested for COVID-19. There has been no positive test as of March 30.
“It's just one more example of where social and physical distancing is necessary to prevent the spread of the virus and to keep people safe,” Meili said at a press conference April 1.
The opposition party is also calling on the province to provide grants to childcare centers to ensure that operators can cover their expenses and continue to pay staff while they're closed without charging penalties, to ensure that parents don’t lose their child’s place due to the pandemic, and give a wage top-up for childcare workers who have redeployed to care for the children of essential workers.
“We're asking all of these to be done in consultation with input from the sector, and to be clearly communicated to both the centers and staff and the public as soon as possible,” said Carla Beck, the NDP’s childcare critic.
At the government's daily press conference on April 1, Premier Scott Moe said the current status quo for daycares is based on recommendations from Dr. Saqib Shahab, the province's chief medical health officer.
