Alberta's New Democrats call on UCP to ensure child care funds get to parents

Diana Batten, Alberta’s New Democrat Shadow Minister for Children and Family Services, issued the following statement about the Auditor General’s report showing taxpayers’ dollars meant to address child-care costs didn’t get to parents:  

"Alberta parents, already dealing with Danielle Smith and her UCP government’s affordability crisis, deserve to benefit from the child-care subsidy negotiated with the federal government.  

“Instead, the Auditor General has found Premier Smith and her incompetent UCP government have failed to pass the benefit on to parents. On top of that, they have cancelled the low-income subsidy for child care that has been in place for decades.  

“Smith and her uncaring government have delivered a double hit to parents struggling to afford child care, making it even more expensive. It’s a failure to live up to their responsibility, improper management of public funds, and it’s just cruel. 

“Albertans deserve a government that demonstrates financial accountability. 

 “Alberta’s New Democrat Caucus believes government is a responsibility and we will continue to fight to ensure the investment meant to ease the cost of child care, including the low-income subsidy, gets to parents so they can better afford high quality and safe child care for their kids.”