A late awakening, but convincing for daycare centers

There was something surreal, a few months ago, to hear the Minister of Families, Mathieu Lacombe, admit his inability to mobilize… his own ministry.

He described the mechanism for creating child care spaces as “broken”. He denounced the “bureaucracy” of his own officials. When he took office, Mr. Lacombe had promised to create 15,000 subsidized places “within two years top chrono”. When due, he hadn’t even delivered the seventh of that.

The man gave the impression of being behind the wheel of a car which refused to move forward. It must be said that the CAQ had never seemed to make daycare a priority. These are the 4-year-old kindergartens that François Legault saw in his soup.

One year from the election deadline, we are witnessing a revival of the government towards child care centers. A late awakening, but convincing. We can even argue that the Lacombe plan, if it fulfills its promises, would be the biggest boost for the network since its creation by Pauline Marois 25 years ago.

Let’s see.

First, the ambition is there. There are now 37,000 subsidized places that are promised within four years. Enough to accommodate (finally!) Every child who needs it. This would end the frustrating injustice of parents who pay their taxes like everyone else, but still have to pay up to $ 70 a day to drop off the chip or the son at daycare. All in a network whose quality has been repeatedly described as inferior to that of the CPEs.

The CAQ even wants to go so far as to include in law its obligation to provide places as soon as a deficit appears in a territory. It’s not nothing.

Obviously, we have already seen ambitions come up against the test of reality – talk to Mathieu Lacombe about it. Except this time the minister changes his car.

The bill tabled Thursday promises to tackle the “madhouse” (this is the expression used by François Legault) which governs the development of new places.

Among the changes that best illustrate this desire to move forward, the government is giving itself permission to build child care centers if it does not receive bids. We also want to slash the paperwork and deadlines.

The government will also repatriate the unloved La Place 0-5 one-stop shop, currently run by a cooperative, under its wing. This is welcome. He also promises to review the admission criteria for daycare centers. The Auditor General strongly denounced the abuses on this subject and there is a lot of cleaning to do.

We also want to prioritize access to underprivileged children. Another good idea: pending the arrival of places, we will offer a tax credit to parents who still have to turn to expensive private non-subsidized daycare centers.

We therefore tick several good boxes, but we will have to remain vigilant. The current call for tenders concerns both childcare centers and subsidized private daycare centers. Usually, the government informally aims to grant 85% of places to CPEs, which remain the jewel of our system. But this target is not listed anywhere and the government remains dependent on submissions from developers.

However, in the rush that has just started, private companies can obtain loans and move faster than non-profit organizations such as CPEs. It will be necessary to ensure that the CPEs are not overtaken.

Beyond the brickwork, the government also has a gigantic challenge to fill, in the midst of a labor shortage, 17,800 educator positions within four years. Various initiatives are on the table, but let’s say that the unions who are currently negotiating with the government have the big end of the stick to demand attractive working conditions.

Childcare centers are one of the pillars of our famous “Quebec model” and the CAQ has just sent them a beautiful declaration of love. It remains to transform the words into achievements.

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