Minister of Finance Carole James says ending 2018 with $1.5 billion operating surplus makes ten-dollar-a-day child care accessible to more families.

VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) — The latest Public Accounts report from the provincial government shows the operating debt has been eliminated for the first time in more than 40 years –which should help free up funding to build more affordable housing and make universal child care a reality.

Increased revenues of almost $3 billion–collected mainly from higher corporate and personal taxes along with the new speculation and employer health tax–helped create a $1.5-billion surplus.

Minister of Finance Carole James says ending 2018 with that operating surplus makes ten-dollar-a-day child care accessible to more families.

“It’s a long term plan. We have right now a number of, as you may know, a number of prototypes around ten-dollar a day child care that we will be evaluating and monitoring, so we can make sure that we’re doing this right and in a way that meets the benefits of the economy and meets the benefits of family and children and gives them the best start.”

She says increased revenues from taxation mean the NDP government’s still on track to make universal child care a province-wide reality by 2027.

“Well, remember it’s a ten year plan, so we are taking our time to make sure that it’s a made in BC model, that it’s done right to be able to make sure the quality is there. To make sure we have the child care providers in place…. I can’t tell you the number of parents who have approached me to talk about the difference it’s made in their lives. In some cases $350 a month off their child care bill and some cases much, much more than that.”

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