durahregion.com This Week Thursday, April 21, 2022 | 4 whitby.ca P: 905.430.4300 E: info@whitby.ca What You Need To Know This Week: 2022 Interim Tax Bill Due April 25 Residential, Farmland, Pipeline and Managed Forest Properties The second instalment of the Interim Tax Billing for 2022 is due April 25. Questions? Contact the Tax Division at 905.430.4304 or tax@whitby.ca. For more information on how payment can be made, visit whitby.ca/Tax 25 APRIL Have Your Say Phillips-Kozaroff Park: Philips-Kozaroff Park (located at 25 Park Road) is being re-developed to better serve our growing community! View the proposed conceptual park design and complete a survey on the playground equipment by May 2. connectwhitby.ca/PhillipsKozaroffPark How Accessible is Your Whitby? Now through April 25, the Town is running a series of poll questions to seek community feedback on accessibility. We want to know about your experience travelling through Whitby. Whether you are a parent using a stroller, live with an invisible disability, or are experiencing a temporary mobility issue (like a broken bone) we want to know - how accessible is your Whitby? connectwhitby.ca/Accessibility Country Lane Road Closure Residents are advised of intermittent road closures on Country Lane from Christine Elliott Avenue to Micklefield Avenue now through May 6 to allow for infrastructure support for future development. Please pay attention to posted signage. Thank you! whitby.ca/Notices Visit The Whitby Youth Room Youth ages 12 to 18 are invited to visit the Brooklin Community Centre Youth Room (located at 8 Vipond Road). It is open Monday to Friday from 4 to 8 p.m., and Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m. NEW this year, parents/guardians must complete the free online membership through ACTIVENet for youth to attend. Learn more at whitby.ca/Youth Landscaping? Here are some tips to help control any construction-related dust: wet your construction material use a wet saw or tarp your space For more tips, visit whitby.ca/bylaws. Thank you for being a good neighbour! positive mental health." Home-based daycare providers are just as thrilled. "I think just knowing that the rates will be going down, more families will find licensed care more attractive," said Leslie Arsenault, Wee Watch operations support manager for Ajax and Pickering. Wee Watch, a licensed home-based child-care agency, has locations across Durham. Maryam Mirza, who provides home-based child care in Pickering through Wee Watch, agreed with Arsenault. "Either way, parents need daycare," she said. "Parents need to work. Not everybody has a parent in the home or grandparent to take care of their kids." Wee Watch staff are eager to learn the details. "From what we do know, we are excited about the opportunities that this brings for our families and providers," said Adele Chatten, placement co-ordinator and home visitor for Wee Watch Ajax and Pickering. The government released some details in late March. The agreement will reduce licensed child-care fees for children under six on average by 25 per cent as of April 1, saving families an average of about $2,200 per child. By the end of the year, fees will be further lowered to a total reduction of 50 per cent on average, saving families an average of about $6,000 per child per year. This agreement will deliver, on average, $10-a- day child care by the end of March 2026 Zeena Golwala, Wee Watch area supervisor for Whitby and Oshawa, who thinks the plan is "an awesome thing for child care as a whole," also noted the high volume of calls coming in from parents asking when they'll see the ultimate reduction. "I think the road ahead for the next couple of years is going to be a trial and error and I hope everybody is patient," she said. Golwala is concerned about the staff resources the new plan will eat up. "Just knowing what is coming down the pipeline, we will double in administration," she said. Golwala said Wee Watch is looking to hire more staff as a result, and would appreciate some government support until all of the details are ironed out.While Olan-MacLean was happy with the news, she wasn't pleased to hear the deal included an $18 minimum wage for early child educators, which she calls, "an insult." The minimum wage would rise $1 an hour every year until reaching a cap of $25. "I certainly think the starting wage should be $25," she said, adding the ceiling should be $35. "We're losing staff like crazy because the wages are just not enough to live on," she said. She noted the government funds early child educators in the education system and they start at $30 an hour. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: As families struggle to pay child care costs, Durhamregion.com looked into some news that families and providers have been waiting for. NEWS 'NOT EVERYBODY HAS A PARENT IN THE HOME OR GRANDPARENT TO TAKE CARE OF THEIR KIDS' Continued from front Adele Chatten is the placement co-ordinator and home visitor for the Ajax and Pickering Wee Watch office. Adele Chatten photo SCAN THE CODE to read more Durham news online.