SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
With last week's announcement of the city's largest daycare centre set to close in July, one Yellowknife organization is attempting to make childcare space a critical issue in the territorial election set for Nov. 23.

The Kids Corner Childcare daycare on Haener Drive is one of a few daycare centres in the city that are just meeting demand for providing spaces for childcare. Children under two years old is much more challenging as it has only four spaces out of 32 and there is a current waiting list of 28. From left is Karen Rawson, executive director with Katie Fage, one year old, Cambria Oullette-Landry, two-years-old, and Ella Parker, one. - Simon Whitehouse/NNSL photo

Caroline Wawzonek, vice-president of the YWCA Yellowknife board is spearheading a letter to send to all candidates in the coming weeks seeking their commitment to finding solutions to the need for more "affordable, safe and available" childcare spaces.

"What we are asking the various candidates to do is confirm a commitment to affordable, safe and available childcare," she said. "It is up to the legislature ultimately to design and craft the proper solution that is going to work for Northern contexts. We are saying commit to this and commit to finding a solution."

Typically, the options for parents come down to the city's four licensed daycare centres, individual licensed day homes, whose numbers fluctuate but amount to 29 currently, or unlicensed day homes that aren't listed officially and parents say are discovered through word of mouth, Facebook or YK Trader.

The GNWT terminated the lease on its building occupied by the Yellowknife Day Care Association on 51 Street effective July 31, 2016.

Rita Mueller, assistant deputy minister with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment said the decision was "proactive" because the building is 60 years old and added the daycare association has had a two-year window to prepare for the closure based on past discussions.

"Let's just say we get the worse storm ever and the roof blows off, or a portion of it," she said. "Or the pipes freeze and all of a sudden wells have to be dug out. Then we have a problem because of the age of the building. They would probably have to have immediate evacuation and relocation. We are trying to prevent that. What will we do as a city if all of a sudden 50 families are out of childcare?"

Mueller admitted the closure will add pressure to parents and young families seeking childcare space because there are 44 daycare spots at the facility. The centre also provides 12 infant spaces of 24 in the city - the demographic most in need. Any future funding for a new facility would be a political decision, Mueller said.

Mueller said she was "very" confident the GNWT was doing all it could to support the daycare. "(Finding funding for a new building) would be up to the minister or cabinet to decide that."

Bad situation made worse

Wawzonek said news of the daycare closure only adds to the critical situation the YWCA has been raising the alarm about, in which young families can't find spaces and are prevented from re-entering the workforce.

"People across the territory including Yellowknife have serious challenges finding a space in the first place," she said. "The next question then becomes can they even afford to send their child to the space or are they basically working to pay for childcare?"

Karen Rawson is the executive director at the licensed daycare Kids Corner Child Care at Haener Drive, which provides 32 childcare spaces, four of which are for under-two year olds.

"There is a desperate need for under two-year-olds," she said. "I get calls every day and our daycare only has four (spots) and often there is only one room."

According to the 2011 census, there are 1,455 zero to 1-year-olds in Yellowknife.

Reserve space before birth

Mothers say the situation has become so bad that it is not rare for the need to seek a space before the child is delivered.

Rawson's centre currently has a waiting list for 28 infants and she agrees that the high demand for childcare spaces affects women wanting to work and by extension the quality of life of their families.

"I see it every day because we can't take (mothers') children and they are desperate to find somewhere to put them," she said.

The long search

Kristin Praetzel, who is on maternity leave, is a recent mother with a four-month-old who has been looking for childcare space for next June. She said the cost can be very hard on young families, as each child in a licensed day home, which she prefers, is about $40 to $60 a day. With two children, this amounts to $2,000 to $3,000 per month for full time-care, she said.

"Oh there is absolutely a need (for more spaces)," she said. "What's more, there is a need for longer-hour childcare, and affordable childcare. I know several people who do not even work because it's not worth the childcare cost."

Like Praetzel, Maureen Van Overliw says finding infant space is a big problem and it can prevent women from working, although she doesn't see it as an intentional societal barrier. Increased physical space, like a bigger daycare centre, would be an answer, she added.

"I think the biggest challenge is probably vacancy, especially for infants," she said. "For a child under the age of two, finding vacancy is really, really difficult. Then looking for qualified individuals as well who have vacancies is probably the double whammy there."

Mueller said this week she is aware the daycare association has identified two locations in the last year where a new building could go, but neither she nor the association would identify where those are.

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