Doug Ford says Ontario close to child-care deal; province is last to strike an agreement
Ontario is close to a child-care deal with the federal government, Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday, as his province remained the only jurisdiction without a deal with Ottawa for $10-a-day child care.
Ford told radio station Q104 Kenora that he is confident Ontario will reach an agreement.
"We're very, very close," he said. "I'm confident we're going to strike a deal that's going to be beneficial for everyone in Ontario."
His comments come after a deal announced Monday with Nunavut leaves Ontario as the last holdout on a child-care deal.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that he is optimistic the government can reach a deal with Ontario.
"We have been ready to reach an agreement with Ontario for many, many months now," he said. "The frame of the agreement has been set out for a long time."
Education Minister Stephen Lecce said Monday that the province is pushing for more than the $10.2 billion on offer from Ottawa to ensure that fees can be reduced to $10 a day since Ontario families pay some of the highest prices in the country for care.
Lecce said that Ontario is also making the case that families who send their children to either not-for-profit or independent child-care settings should benefit from the fee reductions.
The education minister has also previously said that he wants to ensure that any deal will last longer than five years, and that Ottawa's offer doesn't take into account the $3.6 billion a year that the province spends on full-day kindergarten for four- and five-year-old children.
Families, Children and Social Development Minister Karina Gould said Monday that the agreements are specifically about early learning and child care.
"We've been very clear from the beginning that kindergarten is beyond the scope of the agreement," she said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 25, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
What's a Barnacle? It's yellow, sticks and screams if you try to pry it off your car
Barnacles, bright yellow devices used to make sure parking scofflaws pay their tickets, could soon be making their way to cities across Canada.
Verdun Airbnb listing taken down amid complaints, fines and frustration from neighbours
An Airbnb in Montreal's Verdun borough was the source of much frustration from neighbours who say there were constant parties at the location. It has been taken down from the app, but housing advocates remain upset about short-term rentals.
Man who set himself on fire outside Trump trial dies of injuries, police say
A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former U.S. President Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said.
They were from different countries and barely spoke each other's languages. More than 20 years later, they're still happily in love
He decided to spend Christmas somewhere that wouldn't involve snowstorm disasters. She was spending the holidays with family, travelling for the first time outside of her native country of Venezuela. 23 years later, they're still in love.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
A Nigerian chess champion plays the royal game for 60 hours - a new global chess record
A Nigerian chess champion and child education advocate played chess nonstop for 60 hours in New York City's Times Square to break the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon.
Fire in Labrador town under control, officials tells residents to stay away
RCMP say the fire that prompted a state of emergency in a Labrador town is now under control.
12 students and teacher killed in Columbine school shooting remembered at 25th anniversary vigil
Thirteen victims of the Columbine High School shooting were remembered during a vigil Friday on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the shooting that was the worst the nation had seen at the time.
Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza city of Rafah kills at least 9 Palestinians, including 6 children
An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza's southernmost city killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.