Feds can't say for sure where $2 billion in child-care funding went

OTTAWA (CP) - More than $2 billion in federal child-care funding has flowed into a virtual accountability void in the last three years. Officials in Ottawa have few clues as to how well the cash was spent by most provinces since 2004. Provincial reports are months or even years overdue - when they're provided at all.

It's a blind spot that critics loudly warned about when past Liberal governments first started funding a national child-care system that was seen by many as encroaching on provincial social-policy turf.

Tracking hundreds of millions of dollars across Canada is like "wandering through a maze blindfolded," says Monica Lysack, executive director of the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada.

"There is an increasing lack of accountability for the transfer of federal funds," she said in an interview. "It was a problem under the Liberal government and is getting worse under this government."

Ottawa likes to say it's up to the provinces to publicly explain how they spend their money to their own constituents. But Lysack says such reports are outdated by the time they're finally released, or are missing altogether. "It's ridiculous."

A chart compiled by the association says reports for 2004-05 have still not been filed by Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Alberta, the Yukon or Nunavut.

The federal government's own child-care reports are missing for 2004-05 and 2005-06 "for a number of reasons," said Glennie Graham, director of child and youth policy for Human Resources.

A combined publication "will be released when ready," said Lesley Harmer, spokeswoman for Human Resources Minister Monte Solberg.

Part of the problem is a glaring lack of consistent information gathering. National statistics are often sketchy at best.

Just five of 10 provinces reported on federal cash for the fiscal year 2004-05, and only Saskatchewan and British Columbia have filed for 2005-06, Lysack says.

Nonetheless, another $950 million was transferred from Ottawa to provincial and territorial governments in the last fiscal year. Senior officials with the federal Human Resources Department confirmed the missing data.

Nevertheless, "every indication is they're committed to child care," Shawn Tupper, director general of social policy development, said of the provinces.

"And we have seen growth," he told the Commons human resources committee last week.

The number of child care spaces has risen since 2004 by about 40,000, to 786,832 spots across the country, according to government estimates gleaned from research at the University of Toronto.

Despite some improvements, families in many parts of the country - especially British Columbia and Ontario - face long waits for quality child care, Lysack says. There is also confusion about federal cash that has been transferred but not yet spent on early learning, she added.

"Parents are entitled to answers."

Lysack and NDP child-care critic Olivia Chow say legislation is needed to compel timely, detailed reporting.

In the meantime, federal cash will keep flowing.

The Conservatives, in their March budget, pledged another $250 million in child-care money this year to be doled out to the provinces on a per capita basis - again with no strings attached, critics say.

Ottawa plans to continue that funding at $250 million a year through the Canada Social Transfer but insists that, starting next year, it will ensure "reporting and accountability" from the provinces.

That's easier said than done, says Adam Taylor of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

"It's one of the problems with trying to create these national programs that are supposed to transcend jurisdiction." The problem is that provinces may well say: Give us the money and don't ask too many questions.

"It's much better to transfer money directly to parents and have them choose what child or day care option is best for their family - rather than have governments decide for them, and then taxpayers have no choice but to pay for it all," says Taylor.

"It's not good public policy."

The Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care is among groups asking pointed questions about how provincial governments are spending federal cash. There are growing concerns about increasing fees, program funding cuts and lack of quality spaces.

"The most significant question is whether federal funds . . . will be used to support the Ontario child-care system, or instead be used for other programs," the coalition said after the province brought down its latest budget.

Anne Machowski, spokeswoman for the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services, said the province hopes to publicly post its 2005-06 child-care report by this July. It will account for how Ontario spent $87.4 million in federal funds, she said.

© The Canadian Press, 2007