SATURDAY, JUNE %, 1973

“TO GIVE THE NEWS IMPARTIALLY,
WITHOUT FEAR OR FAVOR,
REGARDLESS OF ANY PARTY,
SECT OR INTEREST INVOLVED,"

Polos

It is rare indeed these days when
one hears of a municipal council
approving a development plan that
might allow for kids, poor .people,
non-conformists or pets.

Imagine our surprise, then, when
Port Coquitlam council this past
week gave first two readings to a
bylaw amendment that would
permit day-care facilities to be
established in private homes
throughout the city.

The bylaw amendment is loaded
with restrictions -—~ minimim play
area requirements, conformation
with the Comminity Care Facilities
Act, individual application approval
by council. feneing and advertising
requirements, etc, But most of the
restrictions simply are sensible
precautions, such as the provision
that cach must be more than half a
mile from an arterial highway.

We're delighted that the alder-
men are taking such an enlightened
view of the day-care needs in the
area. While loca] figures are not

e vote for the children

compiled, a complete picture of
national needs indicates the im-
portance of the day-care problem.
Of the 115 million working women in
Canada, more than 500,000 have one
or more children under the age of 14.

DO RUNG

Of these approximately 124 million

children about 380,000 are
preschoolers whose mothers aren't
with them during all or part of the
day, and 695,000 are under 14s with
unsupervised before-and-after
school hours.

It is obvious since these children
make up a substantial proportion of
our future adult population that it is
our social responsibility to provide
facilities for their care. In fact, the
issue goes beyond responsibility to
necessity — physical and
psychological problems of
childhood, if not treated at an early
Stage, become more costly to the

community — both socially and
financially — in the adult years.

Until the past year or two, the
need for proper facilitics, par-
ticularly for pre-schoolers, was
grossly neglected. This situation has
improved as the result of the efforts
of a large number of concerned
groups of women and child care
workers. It was a major step for-
ward when the NDP government
announced its subsidized assistance
for day care beginning April 1.

Earlier, Human Resources
Minister Norm Levi announced
dollar-for dollar matching of capital
costs of day care centres operated
by non-profit organizations to en-
courage establishment of properly
Tun and equipped centres, Mr. Levi
Particularly encouraged employers
and unions to becore involved in on-
site day care facilities, .

- The capital-cost assistance
program, however, does not really

solve the problem of care for
children under the age of three and

over the age of six. It is the parent of
these children who especially will
welcome decisions such as Port
Coquitlam’s to encourage such
centres in private homes.

Very young children need the
close relationships which a family
day-care home prevides, rather than
a group day care centre. Milder
children, of course, need supervision
only before and after school.

We hope that all area councils
follow PoCo’s lead. There are im-
mediate, as well as long-term,
advantages to the community in
providing proper care and super-
vision of children.

We hope, too, that the resolve of
PoCo aldermen in Passing the bylaw
amendment will not be shaken by
the first ratepayer protest which will
inevitably greet any application. It
takes a lot of courage for politicians
to buck the heads-in-the-sand ap-
Proach of most ratepayer groups to
social problems, but our children
deserve that kind of gumption.