ORDERS OF THE DAY — Continued
No. 39 — Monday, April 14, 2025 — 10 a.m.
1 Reann Gasper to ask the Hon. Minister of Education and Child Care the following questions: —
1. Were any concerns identified in the Ministry’s Preliminary Review Report on the $10‑a‑Day Prototype Sites shared with federal officials prior to the 2021 signing of the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CW‑ELCC) agreement?
2. If any concerns from the Preliminary Review Report were shared with the federal government before the 2021 agreement was finalized, which concerns were communicated and through what method or documentation?
3. With respect to the administration of federal child care funds, has the Ministry submitted any reports to the federal government explaining delays in spending of the need to carry forward unspent funding?
4. What amount of federal child care funding carried over from each fiscal year between 2021–22 and 2024–25 remains unspent as of April 2025?
5. Has the federal government placed any specific restrictions, deadlines, or conditions on how B.C. is to use federal child care funds that were carried forward from previous fiscal years?
6. Has the Ministry received any formal notice, correspondence, or comment from the federal government regarding B.C.’s performance or compliance under the CW‑ELCC agreement?
7. Has the Ministry been asked by the federal government to return or reallocate any portion of unspent federal child care funding between the fiscal years 2021–22 and 2024–25?
8. Has the Ministry reprofiled any federal or provincial child care funding carried into future years for program areas that were not originally budgeted for in the prior year?
9. How much federal child care funding received under the CW‑ELCC agreement was carried forward from one fiscal year to the next, beginning with 2021–22?
10. Has the federal government provided any communication or guidance to the Ministry regarding the timing or release of the 2023–24 CW‑ELCC annual report?
11. Has the federal government provided any direction or informal guidance to the Ministry about releasing CW‑ELCC reports during an election period?
12. How many draft versions of the 2023–24 CW‑ELCC annual report were produced prior to the final version submitted to the federal government?
13. What deliverables were included in the Ministry’s contract with MNP for support on the 2023–24 CW‑ELCC annual report, and on what date was the final deliverable provided?
14. What rationale, if any, is documented in ministry records for not releasing the Preliminary Review Report on the $10‑a‑Day Prototype Sites to the public?
15. Was the Preliminary Review Report shared internally with the Premier’s office, Cabinet Policy and Priorities Secretariat, or the Ministry of Finance before the decision to expand the $10‑a‑Day program?
16. What internal briefing notes, memos, or decision documents were produced by the Ministry in response to the Preliminary Review Report on the $10‑a‑Day Prototype Sites?
17. How many policy options or alternative fee models did the Ministry consider between January 2020 and August 2020 in response to concerns about the $10‑a‑Day flat fee’s financial sustainability?
18. What policy or operational changes, if any, did the Ministry make in response to concerns raised in the Preliminary Review Report before or during the expansion of the $10‑a‑Day program?
19. On what date did the Ministry receive the internal evaluation timeline from Malatest & Associates that outlined decision options such as “Wind Down”, “Hold Steady”, or “Expand” for the $10‑a‑Day Prototype Sites, and which of those options was selected?
20. How many prototype sites were associated with each decision pathway in the Malatest evaluation (“Wind Down”, “Hold Steady”, “Expand”), and what were the estimated costs tied to each?
21. What factors were cited in Ministry records as justification for proceeding with the “Expand” decision prior to the release of the Final Evaluation Report?
22. On what date did Cabinet and/or Treasury Board approve the expansion of the $10‑a‑Day program beyond the original 53 prototype sites?
23. Has the Ministry conducted any financial modelling or risk analysis assessing the sustainability of the $10‑a‑Day program in the event of reduced or withdrawn federal funding?
24. Of the $772 million in federal and provincial funding allocated to $10‑a‑Day ChildCareBC Centres between 2024–25 and 2026–27, what portion is designated for operating existing centres versus creating new spaces?
25. Of the infant-toddler spaces currently participating in the $10‑a‑Day program, how many were newly created and how many were converted from existing spaces?
26. What internal benchmarks or indicators does the Ministry use to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of $10‑a‑Day child care spaces by age group?
27. What accountability measures are in place to ensure that $10‑a‑Day spaces are reaching families with the greatest need for affordable child care?
28. What measures has the Ministry implemented to prevent situations where families occupy $10‑a‑Day spaces on a part-time basis while receiving full-time subsidies (sometimes referred to as “space hoarding”)?
29. How many $10‑a‑Day ChildCareBC Centres have exited or withdrawn from the program since it began?
30. On what dates did the Ministry submit its Action Plans to the federal government under the CW‑ELCC agreement for the fiscal years 2021–22 through 2025–26?
31. What supporting documents or data were included with the Ministry’s CW‑ELCC Action Plan submissions to the federal government?
32. Has the Ministry received formal approval from the federal government for each CW‑ELCC Action Plan it submitted between 2021–22 and 2025–26?
33. Has the Ministry proposed any amendments to its previously approved CW‑ELCC Action Plans, and if so, on what dates were those amendments submitted?
34. What child care space creation targets were included in each CW‑ELCC Action Plan submitted by the Ministry since 2021?
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