First Rant - CHILDCARE!

How many of you have had to/are currently dealing with subsidy or daycare issues?  Subsidy is ridicously hard to come by; not to mention all of the cuts they made this past summer - there is a serious issue with lack of funding, especially in areas of Toronto that need it most.  I know of too many mothers who are trying to start school, or work, but who can't get subsidy, or are told their child is so old that there is a two year wait, or who can't find a spot in a decent daycare.  This should not be happening! A lot of us may be young mothers, single mothers, whatever the case may be, and access to childcare and funding is what we need in order to succeed, get off of government assistance for those on it, get out of public housing, build equity, and just build a future for us and our children.  Why can the government not see it like that?  This is what I don't get - they WANT all of the mothers to get off welfare, but then they don't offer enough funding for subsidy (not to mention the strict rules - you must be working for 2 weeks to get subsidy, how the hell can you do that if you dont have childcare????, or the letters that keep getting sent to my daycare threatening to remove my child from subsidy because I'm a DAY LATE in sending in my proof of enrollement, like really??), so therefore, if there isn't enough funding for susbsidy, thousands of moms are forced to remain on welfare until their child is school age so that they can go to school finally.  How does this make sense - I don't think the government has thought about their subsidy cuts in this way.  Not to mention the fact that once you are in daycare and have funding, if you are a minute late, at most daycares, thats gonna cost you a dollar! And what if you have to be at work at 7am, but your daycare doesn't open till then, or what if you have to work until 6pm but that's when your daycare closes?  In our city, there are VERY few daycares that are available evenings or weekends, they have extremely long waitlists, and most do not accept subsidy.  Why is it becoming so impossible for young mothers, or fathers, to work, or complete their school? There is a serious need for more government attention on daycare availability, and subsidy funding!!