BC’s Path to Universal Child Care

Welcome to Episode 4 in Season 2 of our BC's Path to Universal Child Care Podcast. Today we turn the tables on our Interviewer Extraordinaire Gyda Chud, and ask her about her experiences and learning from her many years in the Child Care Sector.  Gyda discusses the importance of sharing stories in retaining and embedding learning, for both children and adults, and then shares with us some of...

Welcome back to Season 2! We are so grateful for your support and interest in this Podcast, as we follow BC's Path to Universal Child Care, along with a series of special guests from the child care community.  In Episode 3, Gyda, Nora and Crystal chat with Adrienne Montani - social justice activist, child and youth advocate, past Vancouver School Board chair and Executive Director of First Ca...

In this episode, we explore how we find and sustain professional connections and meaning through communities of practice. We talk with Jacqueline Ewonus, Jen Vanderberg, Lisa Nicholson, and Nicky Byres who are working as community of practice mentors with the ECE Professional Development Bursary Program. They share their powerful stories about participating in and leading communities of practice a...

Westcoast Child Care Resource Centre is absolutely thrilled to be celebrating our 35th year and to be able to say that funding child care is finally a priority for all levels of government. We are excited to revisit the government's promises and commitments with a look back at the past 35 years of Westcoast. Our former Executive Directors Maryann Bird, Dianne Liscumb, and Pam Preston discuss...

This is a short update on what to expect with our podcast BC’s Path to Universal Child Care in September. It’s been a couple of months since our last episode and we wanted to let all our listeners know what to look forward to. 

In Episode 8 Gyda introduces Stephanie Smith from BC General Employees Union (also known as the BCGEU) to discuss the role of Unions in supporting child care sector during this time of change.  Stephanie has been President at the BCGEU since May 2014, but previous to that she had a long career working as both an Early Childhood Educator and as a child care advocate.  Stephanie and Gyda chat about...

Episode 7 of Universal Child Care Podcast welcomes Karen Isaac from BC Aboriginal Child Care Society (BCACCS) to discuss the impacts of the federal Early care and Learning plan and the $10aDay child care plan on Indigenous children and families in BC. Karen joins us to discuss specific challenges facing early care and learning educators working in Indigenous contexts. We examine the provincial and...

In episode 6 of our podcast charting BC’s Path to Universal Child Care, we explore Child Care Activism and Advocacy with Sharon Gregson, the provincial spokesperson for the $10aDay Child Care Campaign.  Sharon shares her journey to becoming a child care activist and what spurs her on in the campaign for a more equitable child care strategy for children and families. We discuss the history and succ...

Welcome to episode 5! In this episode Gyda welcomes Public Policy Researcher and Community Engagement Specialist Lynell Anderson. In June, 2020 ECEBC and the Coalition published the report Next Step: A Competitive, Publicly Funded Provincial Wage Grid is the Solution to BC’s ECE Shortage which was researched by Lynell. Lynell joins us to discuss the development of a wage grid for the early childho...

Welcome back to our Podcast and Happy New year! In Epsiode 4, Gyda welcomes her very own 'in real life' sister, Rita Chudnovsky! A tireless child care advocate, Rita talks us through the Roadmap for $10aday Child Care in BC, which is shortly to be released and encompasses over a decade of knowledge and support for high quality, affordable and accessible child care from the Coalition. Rit...

Thank you for joining us on the BC’s Path to Universal Child Care podcast! In Episode 3, Gyda  welcomes our colleagues from the Early Childhood Pedagogy Network, also known as the ECPN, to discuss the ways their work brings families and early childhood professionals together in purposeful, mutually beneficial learning situations. Supporting professional development and pedagogical networks and par...

Welcome back to BC’s Path to Universal Child Care podcast! In Episode 2, Gyda interviews Emily Gawlick, Executive Director and Sue Irwin, Interim Director of Programs from Early Childhood Educators of BC also known as ECEBC. ECEBC has been the collective voice of Early Childhood Educators in BC since 1969. Emily and Sue give us the current context for issues in the field, the Wage Enhancement ince...

In this episode, hosted by the incomparable Gyda Chud, our longstanding advocate and expert in child care and founding board member of Westcoast Child Care Resource Centre, we interview the Honourable Katrina Chen, Minister of State for Child Care. Gyda and Minister Chen chat about the benefits of a Universal Child Care System to many stakeholders, including parents, child care providers and ECE s...