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Presented by Kerry McCuaig, Senior Fellow Early Childhood Policy, Atkinson Centre, OISE/University of Toronto, to the Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation Inc. board members, October 29, 2025

e-News

Excerpt: "Today, Okanese First Nation is celebrating the grand opening of its newly-constructed Okanese Aboriginal Head Start On-Reserve Building—a vibrant, community-driven space dedicated to nurturing early childhood development and school readiness. This new facility replaces the original learning centre built in 1976, marking a renewed commitment to the community’s youngest members. Designed through meaningful consultation with community members, leaders, and Elders, the building reflects the values and traditions of Okanese First Nation, with a strong emphasis on land-based learning and cultural connection. The centre offers a nurturing environment by bringing together spaces for play, quiet reflection, wellness, and cultural learning, all under one roof."

Excerpt: "This new child care centre will include 24 spaces for infants and toddlers, 100 spaces for children 30 months to school age, and 24 spaces for school-age children. These new spaces will be in addition to more than 500 child care spaces in Columbia Valley and the surrounding area funded through ChildCareBC programs, which help meet the needs of local families."

e-blast

The first edition of Building Bridges was published nearly twenty years ago, with a second edition following in 2009. Since then, the social and political landscape for queer individuals has changed dramatically around the world. While much progress has been made concerning the protection of existing human rights, a noticeable shift in support for Canada’s queer communities in some parts of the country is evident, largely because of the war on gender and sexual diversity occurring in the United States. In fact, numerous examples of a similar battle abound. This includes the legislated policing of children’s usage of pronouns in schools in some provinces (Ibrahim, 2023; Talati, 2023), recent mass protests organized in response to Ontario’s sex education curriculum (Carter, 2023), opposition to Drag Queen Story Hours, which has drawn ire from many parents (Zoledziowski & Sheldon, 2023), the defamation of Pride flags on the properties of several elementary schools (Mandes, 2023; McGowan, 2023; Peesker, 2023; Sachdeva, 2023) and the current campaign to ban queer-positive children’s books (Beattie, 2023; Froese, 2023; Wong, 2024). Beyond Building Bridges was written, in part, as a response to these inequities and is a reminder that, where queer rights are concerned, the fight is not yet over.

Excerpt: "The Ontario government is investing $43.9 million over three years to continue the province’s After School Program (ASP), keeping more than 13,000 children and youth in underserved communities active and healthy each year. As part of the government’s plan to protect Ontario, this funding will ensure the ASP can continue to provide safe, supervised activities and tutoring for students, along with nutritious snacks, at low or no cost, setting them up for success, inside and outside the classroom."

Current as of October 21, 2025: The Education Act specifies goals for Alberta’s Early Childhood Services to Grade 12 (ECS-12) education system and identifies the roles and responsibilities of the Ministry, school boards, charter schools, private schools, teachers, parents and students. The Act came into force on September 1, 2019.