Thousands protest proposed end to universal daycare

Thousands protest daycare fee hikes Demonstrators are afraid that tying daily payments to a family's income could make the program too costly for some

Thousands of protesters are taking part in a noisy protest at Place des Festivals Sunday morning to speak out against the Couillard government’s plans to end universal daycare.

Last week, a report was prepared for the Liberal cabinet, recommending it end $7/day daycare in Quebec and instead move to a sliding-scale alternative.

"What they project to do, they're going to change everything in the daycare, and we are very afraid of what's coming," said protester Michelle Sauve of CPE Whiteside Taylor, one of the oldest daycare groups in the West Island, with 145 children in two locations.

The lowest price for daycare would be $8 for families earning a net income $75,000 per year or less, and it would slide to the highest rate, which would be $15-$20 for the top income earners.

Leaders from the Parti Quebecois and Quebec Solidaire were on hand at the Montreal protest to address the thousands of families.

"Having a public daycare network makes Quebec the best place in the world to raise a family," said interim PQ leader Stephane Bedard.

Our system is world renowned, said Gina Gasparrini, president of Quebec's Daycare Association.

"It generates money for the government because more people can go to work and they pay their income taxes. It's not only the envy of the other provinces in Canada, but it's the envy of many countries across the world," she said, adding that it's up to young families to carry the load of the province's debt.

"This is the only program that makes a profit and yet they keep coming back to get money from us. In the last year they've recuperated $250 million from our network. There's no more to give," she said.

Louise Chabot, president of teachers’ union Centrale des syndicats du Québec, was also on hand.

“We want to strongly protest against the government's intention to sack family policy that workers have taken years to build. We must not forget that it is because, among other things, universal child care and the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (RQAP) that women can participate more heavily in the Quebec economy through their contribution to the labour market. It is also thanks to similar measures that Quebec families have achieved a greater quality of life than in neighbouring provinces,” said Chabot in a news release issued Sunday morning.

Protester Audrey Theoret said she's hoping her three-month-old son Bastien will be able to get a spot in a daycare when she returns to work next summer.

"We're pretty worried about it, because this is our first one, but we want to have more than one, and if I want to be a stay-at-home mom, I want it to be my choice, not my obligation," she said.

Families gathered not just in Montreal, but also in Quebec, Sherbrooke, Rimouski, Saguenay, Gatineau, Sept-Îles, Rouyn-Noranda, Longueuil and New Richmond to defend the current policy.

Status quo cannot be maintained: families minister

For the past decade parents have paid $7/day, per child, for a spot in daycare facilities across the province. That price rose 30 cents on Oct. 1, 2014, the first price increase in ten years.

Charbonneau confirmed this week the idea of a sliding scale is being looked at, but would not confirm that the prices suggested will be final.

"What we said is we're looking at everything to make sure what we have right now we can keep, because the state that we are in right now we cannot keep," said Charbonneau.

She also mentioned changes were necessary not only due to the province’s deficit, but because public daycares continue to have lengthy waiting lists.

"I think everybody should have the chance to have a place, and that's what we're working on," she said.

System generates income, says daycare association

In September Quebec's Public Daycare Association said despite multiple meetings with the government, the notion of a sliding scale was never discussed.

Gina Gasparini said she now expects that the proposed increase of 70 cents for all users, and more for higher-income families, would see people stop using daycares.

"We have to remember back when the fee went from $5 to $7 in our daycare system, we lost a lot of the low-income families because that $2 was enough for them to say 'I can't afford this anymore,'" said Gasparini.

She also said the system is one of the very few that generates income for the province.

"There are economic studies that have been published that show for every dollar the government invests in daycare, it brings $1.50 back to Revenue Quebec,” she said. "There are over 70,000 women that have gone back to work after daycare became affordable. Well those 70,000 women they earn income tax, they spend money and they keep the economy rolling."