Ontario needs a child-care deal

Families are losing patience with the drawn-out negotiations, writes Springboard’s Noah Zon in the Hamilton Spectator

Nobody likes a bad deal. But what makes for a good deal when you’re negotiating against yourself?

That’s a question that Ontarians should ask as our provincial government and our federal government are locked in an apparent stalemate on child-care funding. Ontario is one of the last provinces or territories to reach an agreement.

Why the hold up? It’s not a lack of urgency. The high cost and low availability of child care is keeping parents — mostly mothers — from being able to work at a time of growing labour shortages. And closures caused by the pandemic have taken supply from bad to worse.