Bill 10 (formerly known as Bill C143) and Why it Matters To You

By Salina Sunderland Your first question is probably “What is Bill 10?” perhaps followed by “Ugh…politics…not interested!” But before you skip by this post in favour of something more exciting and glamorous, let me fill you in on why you should be very concerned with this bill as a parent of young children.

Bill 10, the Childcare Modernization Act, is a bill that has been introduced by the Minister of Education, Liz Sandals, in the name of making your child’s daycare safer and better whether you have your child in a daycare centre, in an agency affiliated home daycare, or a private home daycare. Here are some highlights as pertain to private home daycare (there are changes for daycare centres and agency home daycares as well that I won’t go into here):

1) Currently, a private home daycare provider may have 5 daycare children at any one time in addition to her own children of any ages. Bill 10 would force the provider to count her own children under the age of 6 in her total of 5 kids, even though her children are most likely in school full-time at the age of 4. 2) Currently there are no age ratio restrictions for private caregivers and it is left to a daycare providers own discretion as to which ages to accept into her/his daycare depending on the caregivers own abilities, strengths, and programming. Bill 10 would make it so that private home daycares would be allowed no more than 2 kids under the age of 2.

Now, you might be saying “This is great! My kids will be safer!” However, considering that 80% of children in Ontario are cared for in unlicensed home daycares, this bill has the potential to severely disrupt childcare availability and rates. As a private home daycare provider, I receive many enquiries for care every month. 99% of those enquiries are for babies around the 12 month mark when their moms or dads return to work. Considering children now start school full-time at 3.5-4 years of age, we are left with children aged 1-3 to care for. Many of us actually prefer having a group of little ones close in age as they grow and learn together and it is much easier to cater to their needs when they are all in a similar stage.

If this bill is put into law, many home daycare providers will be forced to close as they will not be able to survive on the 2-3 kids they will be allowed to care (having to count their own children as well as find kids to fit the ratios). Those that stay in business will almost certainly raise their rates significantly, especially for the under 2 spaces. All of this adds up to less spaces available and higher costs for parents.

Now, if all of this was really in the cause of keeping children safer, I would say “It’s worth it! Let’s all suck it up and do this for the kids!” However, the problem is that the daycares that are currently running illegally (with too many kids) are not following the current laws; they are not going to suddenly decide to follow the new law. These are the daycares in which children are in danger and this law will do nothing to stop them. If the Ministry of Education would do their job and follow up on complaints, inspect daycares with complaints against them, and shut down the unsafe ones, we would all be better off.

Bill 10 is now in second reading in the Ontario Legislature. Once it passes through second reading it will go to Committee, where we hope that some amendments will be made. After it is discussed in Committee, it will be passed into law. The Liberal party has said that they would like to have it passed before Christmas.

You can find out more at this Facebook Page: Ontario Families and Home Childcare Providers Against Bill 143 Or: Coalition of Independent Childcare Providers of Ontario

If you are concerned, please write to Education Minister Liz Sandals (lsandals.mpp@liberal.ola.org) as well as your local MPs (follow this link to find them.) Act now before it’s too late; let the government know how this bill will affect you!

Barbecued Apples

OK, hear me out. I realize summer is over. The temperatures are dropping, and even though I'm clinging desperately to the last of my vegetables, the frost will soon win. But there's still time to barbeque before the snow falls! And what's better in October than freshly picked apples?

barbecued apple

What you need:

4-6 Ontario apples
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp brown sugar (or maple syrup, or honey!)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of icing sugar

Core the top of the apples (you can leave the bottom intact so the sweet, gooey stuff doesn't drip out onto your barbecue). In a small bowl, mix the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Place a dab inside each apple. Put the apples on the bbq and cook until the skin is wrinkly - be careful they don't burn! Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with vanilla ice cream.

Thanksgiving Weekend Round-Up

Phew, what a week! The blog's been quiet while I was away at the Birth and Beyond Conference in London, Ontario. I'm back now, and dealing with all the email and work that's piled up in my absence :) One thing on my mind this past week was Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving has always been a special time for my family. As a child, I spent the weekend up in Haliburton, Ontario at my grandfather's cottage. Cold nights by the fire, marshmallows, canoe trips on the lake, and going for wheelbarrow rides (which ended by getting dumped in a pile of leaves at the bottom of the drive).

We're far from Haliburton here in Ottawa, but we share the vibrant colours and crisp sunny days with cottage country. I'm motivated to plan fun activities for my family to do while I've got three days off. Here's a list of the ideas I've gathered:

1) For families with older kids - a Haunted Village at Cumberland Heritage Village Museum.

2) A hike in Gatineau Park to see the Fall colours.

3) If you're up for a full day, you could pair your hike with a trip to a Quebec cranberry farm.

4) A walk along the Mer Bleu Bog Trail.

5) If you have a babysitter or are kid-free, you may want to get that last round of golf in!

6) The Ottawa Farmer's Market is still open and it's hopping! I'm planning on heading there on Sunday to stock up on veggies for soups and stews.

7) A country fair is perfect for this time of year! The Pontiac Country Fair is taking place in Gatineau Park this weekend.

8) Pumpkin patch! Saunders Farm, Millers Farm, and Cannamore Orchard are a few popular places.

9) Thanksgiving Weekend activities at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum.

10) Help others in need by making a donation to your local food bank!

What do you do Thanksgiving weekend?

Flashback: Falling for Fall

This post was originally published on my personal blog - three years ago! We still love the Orleans Fruit Farm, and yes, I still love that kale salad :)

Although we officially have five more days to go, I'm going to jump the gun and call it: Autumn is Here. The nights are cold, the mornings are chilly (and in many parts of this world, frosty!), and the days are clear and bright. As Stuart McLean said on the Vinyl Cafe, the sky is a different kind of blue now than it is in July and August.

What better way to kick off our first fall weekend than with a visit to the local apple orchard:

The sunflowers welcomed us as though we were royalty

Her Highness was all too willing to oblige

The bees were busy this weekend - they know the end is near

A curious little elf hid amongst the towering flowers...

But emerged to bite into every apple she could find - whether they be on the ground or in the trees

"How do you like them apples!?"

 A warm dinner of curried carrot soup - thanks to the sweet roots we had growing in our garden this year

And freshly baked whole wheat bread, with flour from Castor River Farm

To finish off, a salad with garden tomatoes and local purple kale

Tonight I'm hoping for dreams as vivid as the fall colours....

Camping in Bon Echo: Part 1

My family loves to camp. Or maybe I should say my husband really loves to camp, and I sort of love it. I don't mind sleeping in a tent, and I'm happy outdoors as long as the bugs aren't too bad. But I have a terrible fear of bears, and feel uneasy in the wilderness. I know that I have a better chance dying in my automobile than dying at the jaws or paws of a bear, but there isn't much rational thinking that occurs when I'm imagining myself (or my girls) being eaten alive.

Despite my reservations, I believe that camping is a fantastic activity for kids. Not only are they learning new skills and an appreciation of nature, but they're doing what kids do best - getting dirty and exploring the world!

So each year we plan a camping trip with good friends of ours, who also have two daughters around the same age as our daughters. This year we chose Bon Echo Provincial Park, about a 2.5 hour drive from Ottawa.

We reserved site #165, which is one of five walk-in sites at the Sawmill Bay campground on Mazinaw Lake. Bon Echo also has back country camping, cabins and yurts. 

Positives:

• There's a lot to do with kids. We rented a canoe for 1 hour and went to check out the native pictographs on Mazinaw Rock. The park offered amazing kids programs every morning at 10am, and most evenings at their amphitheatre.
• The beaches are sandy and clean. The girls spent many hours wading, swimming and building sand castles.
• The walk-in sites are beautiful - rocky and treed, and right on the water. You could easily jump off the rocks at your site and go for a swim. The lake is the second-deepest in Southern Ontario.

Negatives:

• For a walk-in site, I expected to have neighbours who had done a lot of camping and respected general camping rules. Nuh-uh, didn't happen. We ended up with several yahoos camping on either side of us - one couple lighting their fire with charcoal and starter fluid, another dragging giant logs and brush to burn, and a group of campers with no respect for quiet after dark (to give them credit, they weren't drinking or anything - they were just obnoxiously loud people. In fact, the following group at that site were the ones drinking and carrying on, and even they shut up at 11pm. I could have kissed them!)
• Walk-in sites and young children don't really mix (but as another positive, I'm in really great shape after all that walking back and forth!)
• Lack of policing from park rangers: our friends were staying in the main Sawmill campground, and had a horrible experience with drunken teenagers (or maybe they were 20...whatever). And in the walk-in campsites, we didn't see a single ranger in seven days. I realize funding is scarce, but I think a walk-through each evening is warranted.  I could have made the park a ton of money by handing out tickets for all the infractions I spotted
• The park was BUSY. Although I appreciate the human bodies surrounding me (as protection from bears, of course!), my hubby and I could have done with a quieter experience. We camped Achray in 2012 and it was very peaceful.

Although my negatives seem to outweigh the positives, we still had a wonderful time. The girls had a blast with their little friends, and the giant tarp my husband rigged up over the campsite saved us from days of rain. We're already planning our trip next year, and need ideas. What are your favourite campgrounds for kids?

Oh, and no bears were spotted. That didn't stop me from having a 2am heart attack after I heard what I thought was a bear - it was just a really loud racoon :)