Ontario CUPE President and Windsor Parents Walk-the-Walk to Tell Dwight Duncan: "Put Children in the Budget!"

WINDSOR, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 5, 2010) - Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario President Fred Hahn joined parents, child care advocates, child care and child welfare workers today when they walked to tell Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan to include meaningful support for Ontario children in his spring budget, support that will save the nine Windsor day cares now slated for closure.

"Put children in the budget," parents and union members yelled as they gathered outside one of the local day cares slated for closure.

"Can you believe that Dwight Duncan and Sandra Pupatello, MPP's for this very community, would look the other way and do nothing to keep day cares open and prevent program cuts at the Children's Aid?" Hahn asked the crowd.

Today's walk was organized by the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care (OCBCC) and CUPE Ontario with parents who have been organizing to keep the local day care centres open.

"This government's talk about early childhood education and about poverty reduction is empty talk as long as Dwight Duncan refuses to put real money in the budget to keep day cares open and make sure the Children's Aid Societies in communities like Windsor aren't forced to cut programming to balance their budgets," Hahn said today.

Hahn noted that Ontario is about to celebrate International Women's Day and that it is mostly women who will suffer the effects if Ontario fails to put children in the budget.

"What's our message to Dwight Duncan?" asked Hahn, "Show me the money!"