The 14,000 new subsidized childcare spaces announced by Quebec on Sunday do not reach the rural areas of Estrie, which feel neglected.
Gabriel Bourque is the father of four children. He lives in Saint-Camille, a bucolic municipality, but where there is only one small family daycare. He has to travel several kilometers to bring his youngest child to his daycare service. “It’s 15 minutes there and then there’s the return. I do that twice a day so it’s an hour’s drive,” explained Mr. Bourque.
This kind of time spent on the road disrupts the family schedule. The need for a daycare center in the village is therefore crying out, but it will not receive any of the 950 subsidized places in educational childcare services granted to Estrie in the next 24 months.
“We were on a list and we were removed from the list”, mentions the mayor of Saint-Camille, Philippe Pagé disappointed. The municipality could have received a CPE, but there are not enough children old enough to occupy places there. A CPE will therefore be built in Val-des-Sources, taking all possible places for the middle, this is where the parents will have to bring their children.
It’s not easy to open a daycare. The regulations are strict towards small municipalities. “I think that the reality of our rural environment is not understood by Quebec”, underlined the mayor of the village.
Educators are also few. The number of enrollments is declining in Childhood Education Techniques at the Cégep de Sherbrooke. However, there is hope that there will be more registrations this year since the students will benefit from the advantages. In the meantime, the solution for Saint-Camille is home childcare services. A young woman hopes to help soon by opening her daycare center in Wotton.
This initiative has not yet been implemented, so parents have to travel to daycare. The mayor, he fears that fewer families decide to settle in the village.
Reference-www.journaldemontreal.com