Feature Article October 9, 2003
LAND O' LAKES NewsWeb HomeDombrowsky and Gerretson may be Cabinet BoundWill Local MPP's Come in out of the Wilderness
A report published in one of the Toronto daily papers says that Kingston and the Islands MPP John Gerretson is a shoo-in for the post of Solicitor General, and Hastings, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington MPP Leona Dombrowsky will likely be named Minister of Children when Premier elect Dalton McGuinty names his first cabinet later this month.
For the past two years Dombrowsky has been the Liberal critic for the Ministry of Family, Community and Social Services (MFCSS) as well as deputy house leader. As such, she was heavily involved in preparing the Liberal platform on Childrens Issues. The News conducted an interview with her on Childrens issues in the waning days of the election campaign, and at that time she said that after the election, we will bring together the stakeholder groups, providers, educators, and parent groups to make progress in implementing, in their entirety, the recommendations of the Early Years Report.
The Early Years Report, which was released in 1999, based its recommendations on research that said the pre-school years are crucial in terms of intellectual and social development of children, and that government investments in childrens development through those years will lead to improved educational levels later on, and cost savings within the school system as well because children will be better prepared when they start school. Development problems are also best dealt with when identified early in life, according to the study.
Dombrowsky said that the Liberals have budgeted $300 million over four years for increased funding of Early Childhood Development programs.
One of the major recommendations of the Early Years Report was that affordable childcare be provided. Toward that end, Dombrowsky says the childcare subsidy program, which provides partial or full subsidy for childcare costs for poor families, will be changed, so that partial subsidies will be available for families who have incomes up to $75,000 per year.
This will be a big change from the current situation. All families must exhaust their savings before being considered for subsidy. Insurance policies and Registered Education Savings plans are considered as assets which can make families ineligible for subsidy no matter what their annual income is.
As well, Dombrowsky said a liberal government will look into subsidizing daycare costs in private daycare centres as well as in licensed public daycare centres.
Dombrowsky has been critical of the Early Years Centre initiatives of the former government. Just about a year ago, on September 23, 2002, she spoke out in the legislature against the way the Early Years Centres were being set up, criticizing the fact that the Early Years Centres are being placed in every riding in Ontario, totally abandoning the notion of community-based service.
Nonetheless, now that the Early Years Centres have been opened throughout the province, Dombrowsky says they will be maintained under the Liberals. We are not going to go backwards, we will use the Early Years Centres, and we will improve and expand them to accomplish the goals set out by the Early Years Report.
The Early Years Centre in HFL&A was set up on a de-centralised model with the centre in Sharbot Lake and unique satellites in Bancroft and Napanee. I think it can be a model for centres throughout rural Ontario.
If indeed Dombrowsky does become the Minister of a new Childrens Ministry, as is being predicted, she will have a chance to bring about the changes she envisions, providing the funding is forthcoming from her cabinet colleagues.
