As we navigate the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic here in Manitoba, Transcona families are struggling to access support services and get their childcare places. I have heard on this issue from many voters and I would like to highlight a few stories in particular.

A Transcona small business owner is renting space in a shopping center and has managed to keep his business open during the pandemic. They managed to survive the second wave because it arrived for their business during a busy time. As a result, they chose to decline the small business support offered by the province.

However, now, during the third wave and with their child’s school transitioning to distance learning, they face additional challenges. They now need to both keep the business open and help their school-age child at home who needs assistance with distance learning.

They could stay afloat through the winter without a provincial bridge grant, but now when they need help the progressive Conservative government won’t give them because they haven’t applied for previous rounds. As you can imagine, this creates added stress at an already difficult time.

Another component struggles with the discrepancies between pre-school and school care performance in school-age. She has a school-age child at home doing distance learning, but also a preschool-age child in childcare. She is a key worker and has had to take leave of absence from work with no pay or benefits in order to be home with her school-age child.

She decided to pull her preschooler out of daycare to save the much-needed money as she is already home with her other child. However, her daycare center told her that she would have to continue paying fees to get the place for her preschooler even if they weren’t around.

The province pays fees for parents who care for school-age children before and after school, but not for pre-school children, which means families like these are at risk of losing their childcare places.

The pandemic has put a financial burden on all Manitobans. The NDP caucus will continue to urge this government to give small businesses and young families the timely support they need.

As always, feel free to contact my office on 204-594-2025 or email [email protected]

As we navigate the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic here in Manitoba, Transcona families are struggling to access support services and get their childcare places. I have heard on this issue from many voters and I would like to highlight a few stories in particular.

A Transcona small business owner is renting space in a shopping center and has managed to keep his business open during the pandemic. They managed to survive the second wave because it arrived for their business during a busy time. As a result, they chose to decline the small business support offered by the province.

However, now, during the third wave and with their child’s school transitioning to distance learning, they face additional challenges. They now need to both keep the business open and help their school-age child at home who needs assistance with distance learning.

They could stay afloat through the winter without a provincial bridge grant, but now when they need help the progressive Conservative government won’t give them because they haven’t applied for previous rounds. As you can imagine, this creates added stress at an already difficult time.

Another component struggles with the discrepancies between pre-school and school care performance in school-age. She has a school-age child at home doing distance learning, but also a preschool-age child in childcare. She is a key worker and has had to take leave of absence from work with no pay or benefits in order to be home with her school-age child.

She decided to pull her preschooler out of daycare to save the much-needed money as she is already home with her other child. However, her daycare center told her that she would have to continue paying fees to get the place for her preschooler even if they weren’t around.

The province pays fees for parents who care for school-age children before and after school, but not for pre-school children, which means families like these are at risk of losing their childcare places.

The pandemic has put a financial burden on all Manitobans. The NDP caucus will continue to urge this government to give small businesses and young families the timely support they need.

As always, feel free to contact my office on 204-594-2025 or email [email protected]