The Yukon government’s plan to offer universal daycare was the subject of debate last week with the official Opposition.

The Liberals were on the defensive as Currie Dixon, the leader of the Yukon Party, intensively questioned them on the subject.

“Since its inception, the Liberals have been referring to their new early learning and childcare program as ‘universal,’ which suggests that it is universally available to all Yukoners; however, we know that it is certainly not universal as it excludes over 1,000 Yukon children for several reasons,” Dixon said.

“One of those reasons is its uneven application in rural Yukon.

“I would like to provide the minister with a few examples. First of all, take Ross River. There is currently no daycare or childcare program in that community.

“Because the Liberals’ program only applies to licensed childcare spaces, parents and children in Ross River are left out.

“Can the minister tell us how she can call the Liberal program ‘universal’ when it is not available to children in Ross River?”

Education Minister Jeanie McLean tackled the issue on behalf of the government.

As has been the case with ministers answering questions this session, the question was not exactly answered.

“Our government believes that all children should have access to affordable and high-quality childcare and early learning opportunities,” McLean added.

“We recognize that capacity is certainly a concern. Work is ongoing to provide more integrative, collaborative programs and services to better meet the needs of Yukon families. This certainly does include working with our rural communities.

“We have made historic investments in childcare,” the minister added.

“Our new universal childcare program is making life more affordable for Yukon families, and we recognize that we have a lot of work to do with our rural communities, which we are endeavouring to do.

“Again, these investments are historic and a long time coming,” McLean added.

“This is something that our government has made a priority and will continue to do so as we move forward with all our partners throughout Yukon.”

Dixon followed up with more numbers provided by the government.

“Another example of rural Yukoners being left behind by the Liberals is in Dawson City,” he said.

“According to the minister’s own numbers that she provided earlier this sitting, there are 20 childcare spaces at the Little Blue Daycare, but the wait-list is 36 children. That means that, because of the way the Liberals have designed this program, the 36 kids who are stuck on the wait-list are out of luck. In some cases, we’ve heard that the wait time is over a year,” Dixon said.

“How can the minister claim that the Liberals’ program is universal when so many families in Dawson City receive no benefit from this program at all? “

McLean tried again to provide a definitive answer.

“Our government believes that all children should have access to affordable, high-quality childcare and early learning opportunities,” she said.

“As I’m standing today to speak about universal childcare and the accessibility, I want to point something out to Yukoners. In 2002, the Yukon Party had a platform that said that they would ensure that Yukoners have access to quality affordable childcare services. They did not deliver on this,” McLean said.

“Our government has made historic investments into early childcare and early learning opportunities for Yukoners.”

“Digging 20 years into the past is cold comfort for those Yukoners who are on wait-lists or unable to access affordable childcare,” Dixon replied.

“The minister said that affordable childcare should be available to all Yukon children — that’s exactly what we are saying — and it’s not right now.

“How can the minister call the Liberals’ program ‘universal’ when it excludes so many Yukon children?

“I agree that this program has made lives of some Yukoners better, but it has not made the lives of all Yukoners better, and certainly not all Yukon children,” Dixon added.

“That is the issue — that this program is not truly universal. That is the issue.