If you are a parent in Toronto, or thinking of starting a family, the scramble of finding and affording a child care space isn’t going away any time soon, thanks to a funding cut by the Ford government. There are 3,049 planned child care spaces that may never be built in the city because the Ford government has reneged on a government promise to provide full operating funding to support 51 child care projects.

Meanwhile in Alberta, the province’s $25-a-day child care pilot is under threat, leaving parents in the lurch. One mom told Star Edmonton that the news is “extremely stressful” and she worried about losing the space where her daughter is “thriving.”

By contrast, on July 4 in Vancouver, B.C. Premier John Horgan joined Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart to announce 2,300 new spaces in Vancouver. Finally a government that’s putting its money where its mouth is on child care.

No such hope in Ontario. The Ford government talks a lot about “child care choice,” but they are throwing away plans that could have provided child care options for 490 infants, 975 toddlers and 1,584 preschoolers — including 225 spaces in Premier Doug Ford’s own riding of Etobicoke North.

With such starkly different approaches to child care set to make very different impacts on families across Canada, it raises the question of what role the federal government should have in child care.

In Vancouver, Horgan made clear that child care must become a national priority: “The mayor and I know full well that as we get into the season of federal voting, I think families and citizens are going to be talking to the federal government, all parties, about getting in the game on this. We need to make sure that the whole country is focused on making sure that our children are getting the care they need,” he told The Canadian Press.

It’s true that the federal government has taken the first steps with a framework and provincial funding agreements, but baby steps just aren’t enough anymore.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating. When families are still paying the equivalent of a second mortgage in child care fees and putting themselves on a dozen wait-lists in hopes of finding a space, the federal government must admit that there is still much work to do to make affordable child care a reality for Canadian families no matter where they live.

It should start with a commitment to affordable child care for all as a long-term goal. We need real funding and federal legislation that enshrines Canada’s commitment to a universal child care system, and sets out the conditions for federal transfer payments similar to the Canada Health Act.

While the Ford and Kenney governments sink to new lows by abandoning child care projects that are already underway, local families are still waiting for child care. And when they do find a child care space they either sit on yet another wait-list to access a fee subsidy, or face the prospect of paying child care fees that are often more than a third of their income.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

For starters, the Ford government should make sure every one of the 3,049 child care spaces in Toronto are built and funded. And Alberta should continue the affordable child care program that has been life changing for young families.

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And by October, we need every federal party leader to commit to affordable child care for all.

Our families and our children are worth it.