In June1974, Margaret Birch, Provincial Secretary for Social Development, delivered a proposal to change Ontario’s day care licensing requirements. The entire day care community across the province of Ontario rose up in opposition. People thought that the policy would result in much reduced quality in day care centres. Julie Mathien and Susan Caldwell, members of the Daycare Reform Action Alliance, describe the policy problem, the campaign, and the aftermath.
Check out our interview Birch Proposals: The Early Fight for Child Care Quality with Sue Colley featuring Julie Mathien, and Susan Caldwell.
“You’re treating this as if it’s just an organizational problem, not that there are real human children involved, who need education, who need the social support, who need all that. That had become a much broader support for this movement.”