“The good ones pay,

One of our lead stories in this issue concerns what appears to:
be a pretty serious shortage of licensed daycare facilities in this |
area. In examining the multitude of factors and ramifications sur-
rounding the general topic of daycare, we’re beginning to-under-
stand why the federal government chickened out on this one
(although understanding doesn’t condone weaseling out of a $400
million election promise), It’s a real octopus, with tentacles wrig-
gling out into some of the fundamental questions we're going to
have to confront as our society continues evolving into... well,
whatever it’s going to evolve into. . _

The local problem appears to begin with the licensing aspect,
not that there’s anything wrong with certain controls to insure
the safety of the children and the integrity of the operators, but
this is yet another of those situations in which the government
has laid down the law and then penalizes those who comply by
not enforcing it. If the figures in our story are correct, illegal
unlicensed spaces (more than two children) must outnumber the .
licensed ones in this area by at least three to one. Expenses, in-
itial investment, ongoing compliance and staffing costs are much
higher for licensed operators. The satisfaction of having met the
legal criteria is sour consolation in a demanding and stressful
profession when the underground competition forces rates down
to break-even or below. .

But what happens in the unlikely event that all the spaces meet
licensing criteria? The cost would inevitably rise, and for some
parents — for example, a single mother working for minimum
wage — the service would be beyond the ability to pay. And
anyone who thinks babysitting is the answer hasn’t tried to find a
good one lately; demand is way ahead of supply in that area too.

The general effect would be to exclude an entire class of people
from the workforce, or at the very least make life excessively dif-
ficult for people who depend on daycare to free them for

- employment. It would also deprive employers of what ever skills

and abilities those people can bring to the workplace, put even
more strain on the social welfare and unemployment insurance

A

systems and leave a broad wake of unpredictable and probably _

undesirable demographic effects. -

Which leads us back to the government: a maelstrom of con-
troversy surrounds suggestions of subsidies, tax breaks, payment
to parents who stay home and raise their kids instead of working,
direct payment to daycare operators, incentives for employer-
operated daycares, constitutional rights to full participation in
Canadian society, and in general the sort of prolonged and
furious debate that news organizations dearly love to cover.

The answers aren’t going to come easily, but if governments
continue to blunder around in the present fashion the answers
won't come at.all.

ra eae ALERT

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Harminder Dosanjh

Sele
anil

by Bob Jackman

Wednesday

Perspectives

Words you could eat depart-
ment — April 19, 1989

: don’t expect to see a
cheque right away from GO_.
BC for I can gather, GO BC

_ and Expo Legacy monies can’t
" overlap — there goes the pool.

Recovery of the month de-

partment — same date-
...0f course, political deci-

sions can override policy...

I have to admit I was never a
strong supporter of the swim-
ming pool expansion project.

" When it was first introduced to

Council at a cost of $396,000, I
was working with Jim Larkin,
Jim Ryan and a few other
musicians to chase down some
funding for the bandshell. I’d
managed to persuade Council
to put aside $8,000 for seed
money, and the Performing
Arts Shell Society applied for a
$16,000 Expo Legacy Grant,
which required City approval.
Council persuaded PASS to
make a joint submission with
the pool project, but when the
Expo Legacy monies arrived,

the City refused to turn any.

money over to PASS. The
bandshell group then had to .
apply on their own, after a
year’s delay and with the help
of the Terrace Arts Council,
for a grant from the Lotteries
branch. They did manage to
shame the City into advancing
money against the projected
Lottery Grant of $16,000.
Through sheer hard work and
determination, the PASS group
and the Terrace Musicians
Association finally got the
bandshell built, with a lot of

weer volunteer time and money from

the community, - .

- By the time the Bandshell
was opening, the costs of the ©
pool exparision had more than

t-

“,.. you have to give Mayor Talstra credit for

tenacity.”’

doubled, to about $860,000, —
not including another $140,000
or so for roof repairs and con-
densation damage. Meanwhile,
many of the items that were in-
cluded in the original proposal
were dropped, making the pro-

_ ject a miere shadow of its

former self. The last time I was
involved in cost discussions, the
total project cost, after dele-
tions, was hovering at $1.2
million.

The. project that had received
voter approval by referendum
was not the same project we
were discussing around the
Council Table in late 1988, In-
terestingly, even before the ref-
erendum, only two residents
other than media and council
attended a public viewing of
the plans. The expansion just
did not grab the people's in-
terest. If anything, increasing
the size of the weight room,
moving the sauna, adding a —
wading pool for-toddlers and
buying a new suntan table
seemed to be a case of the City
competing with private facilities
such as Ironworks and Mount
Layton Hot Springs. —

So, while the final proof will
be in the final product, you -
have to give Mayor Talstra
credit for tenacity. Several
times, Council seemed aligned
in opposition to carrying on.
Each time, Jack suggested stall-
ing until he could get more in-
formation on some more or
less obscure topic. In several
meetings, if a vote had been
called, the pool would have
gone dowri 6-1 or 5-2.

Now, of course, everyone is -
fully supportive (as they should

_ through its membership in the
_ Regional District continues to

be), following the announce- - .

ment atthe opening ofthe. |

Access Centre that Terrace a

would be getting GO BC funds

for the pool expansion. _
Sadly, one of the projects

that fell by the wayside before

the pool was chosen was a

Community Centre. At the

time, $400,000 seemed to be

the maximum the City could . :

afford, even with Legacy fund-

ing, and the $2,5 million fora

Centre seemed out of reach.

Public support for a Centre has

grown enormously in the past 7

three years, and so apparently

has the City’s ability to pay for

one, While Library Expansion

remains a priority, it will be in-.

_ teresting to watch over the next

few months as a Community
Centre group comes to the
forefront, |
And, of course, the possible —
loss of skiing in the areais an,
ever-recurring threat. Terrace - -

pour good money into

_Kitimat’s MK Bay Marina,

where it is washed out to sea.
Unless Gerald Amos andthe
Haisla can come to the rescue
very quickly, we will be caught .
up in major capital expen-
ditures to make the marina
presentable. Meanwhile, the
developers at Shames Mountain: .
urgently need assistancein
completing the road to ensure _

that the closure of Kit-

sumkalum doesn’t kill a major
winter attraction for our area.
Let's hope the Mayor can re-
tain his tenacity until we have a:
showpiece Community Centre ~
and ati operating ski hill, =

a eed