By Lexi McFarlane, Times Chronicle
The Town of Osoyoos has approved the framework for a new committee on child care in the area despite lingering questions around membership.
At the Dec. 9 Committee of the Whole (CoW) meeting, Council was presented with a draft Terms of Reference for a new Child Care Committee, by Gerald Davis, Director of Community Services.
Multiple options were given to council with staff recommending to receive input and direction from the CoW on the proposed terms, which were created following a CoW meeting on Nov. 25.
As presented, the Terms would establish an advisory committee of seven members, from seven different groups. Those include Town staff, Interior Health, the School District, the Osoyoos Indian Band, post-secondary and secondary schools, One Sky Childcare Resource and Referral (a not-for-profit), and for-profit childcare providers in Osoyoos.
A main procedural flaw noted was the inclusion of for-profit childcare providers. It was noted in the conflict of interest section that a committee member “could not have… direct or indirect” financial interest. Councillor Johnny Cheong pointed out that this would make including for-profit childcare providers difficult, given the language.
“If we’re (including) child care providers, which may be private organizations, then how do we balance that out?” Cheong asked. “Because if we’re trying to determine where grant funding goes, towards different initiatives, there’s going to be an element of conflict of interest.”
“That could be a discussion for Council,” Davis said in response.
A suggestion arose that it could be stipulated that the for-profit agencies would not be voting members of the committee, if there were motions arising from it going to Council.
Mayor Sue McKortoff, meanwhile, sought clarity on which specific members would represent their mentioned groups on the proposed Committee.
“You’ve got (both) post-secondary and secondary schools; are you thinking that there might be one staff member that would come from there?” McKortoff said. “(Maybe) A student?”
Councillor Jim King went further with the train of thought offered by Mayor McKortoff.
“With the child care providers, because there’s five or six groups in town that provide that; how do you decide if two different groups want to be on the committee?” King said.
Davis noted that the Terms, as written, could include more than one organization from a certain category to each have a representative.
“The way the Terms of Reference are written, if there were twelve different groups, they could all be part of the committee.”
Two separate motions were made, as Council ultimately decided on two of the options presented to them by staff. The first motion was to accept the recommended option, having provided staff with input on the Terms of Reference.
The second motion was to outright accept the Terms, and establish the new committee; this would, as Mayor McKortoff described it, allow the Town to “get going on it right away”.
Both motions passed unanimously. The committee will be finalized at a future date.
