Ousted, then relocated to non-compliant temporary premises, the Frisson de colline Early Childhood Center (CPE), in Outremont, is suffering from the housing crisis. He is again “in danger”, according to his administration, since his next relocation depends on a guarantee of payment from the Ministry of the Family, which is slow in coming.
“We added windows to the interior walls because some rooms did not have access to natural light,” says the director of the CPE, Lucie Ruel, in her temporary space rented by the City, a former police station. Some rooms receive natural light only because it first passes through two other rooms with partially fenestrated walls. “It’s not up to standard,” complains the director.
“The ventilation also works badly. The City helped us replace ducts to ventilate the premises, but that didn’t solve everything […]. We also do not have a multifunction room, required in each CPE”, nor a “room equipped so that the children can let off steam”, she continues, before concluding: “Several standards are not respected. »
In addition, a member of the board of directors of the CPE, Carole Gesseney, affirms that the lease of this space remains precarious. She fears another eviction.
The current premises are therefore only an alternative solution, found in extremis after the CPE was evicted from a room it had occupied at Paul-Gérin-Lajoie-d’Outremont school since 1975.
“The board of directors and the director have been looking for a permanent relocation site for years, without success, given the prices on the market and the absence of mobilization or a proposal for land or a building from the City of Montreal. and the Borough,” says Carole Gesseney, whose daughter attends the CPE.
Marie-Claude Leblanc, director of the borough, recognizes that “the current premises do not meet several needs”, but is pleased to have been able to find something, “otherwise it would have been on the street”. She also wants to be reassuring about the fear of another eviction: “We are ready to wait the necessary time. »
Carole Gesseney says that in any case, she has been working “tirelessly for three years” to relocate her daughter’s daycare elsewhere in Outremont. “The current premises have been fitted out as best we could, but here we have to do better,” she says.
For two years, a project has been on track, in partnership with the property developer Demonfort. This one proposes to the CPE to occupy part of one of its buildings under construction, the Outremont Chapel. This is a project to transform an old church into a luxury condominium, adjacent to Saint-Viateur Park.
“Administrative maze”
The CPE and Demonfort therefore jointly designed a project — including plans, a schedule and an evaluation of the costs — which they presented to the Ministry of the Family (MFA). The CPE now requires responses from the MFA, in order to obtain the necessary payment guarantees to begin construction in the proposed space.
“It’s been a year and a half since we filed the first plans, and we asked for authorization [au MFA] to start the project. Since then, we have been going from meeting to meeting with the ministry, without ever having any guarantee that our project will be supported and financed,” says Carole Gesseney.
She claims that the CPE is “in jeopardy”, since in the absence of a guarantee of payment, the promoter “will have to cancel the project and reserve the space for something else”. She deplores “unacceptable administrative maze”.
The cost estimate now stands at “about $3.5 million,” she said. “In Montreal, several CPE projects have cost between three and four million, so this one is in the normal range. »
The department replies that it is “well aware of the terms of the lease with the City of Montreal and of the context of the proposed partnership”, and that “the delays in this file are reasonable, given the scope and particularity of the project, which deserve special attention “. He adds that he should “decide quickly” on the future of the project.
“In the meantime, this puts us in an extremely delicate position”, since “the promoter is always taking more financial risks while we are waiting”, says Carole Gesseney. She accuses the MFA of “not being suitable for this kind of public-private partnership”, whereas, for the moment, it is “the only option” left to the CPE.
Annick Desrosiers, an early childhood educator at the CPE for 10 years, says she “really hopes” that the proposed project will come to fruition. She “feels cramped” in the current premises, and believes that the new building “would give children better access to the outdoors”.
A “difficult” crisis
The CPE Frisson de colline employs 16 people this year, and cares for 80 children. According to the director, Lucie Ruel, neither the employees nor the parents “would accept” a relocation of the CPE to another sector. She is sorry for the “very difficult” housing crisis in Outremont, and the high costs of materials and labor in construction, which are hampering the project.
In June, Radio-Canada revealed that since 2017-2018, some twenty CPEs that rent premises at the Center de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM) have received significant rent increases, amounting, in some cases, to 500%. Several CPEs in Montreal are also threatened with eviction, while the CSSDM is taking over its facilities.
The National Assembly also unanimously adopted a Quebec solidaire motion in June, which called on the government of François Legault to “support the CPEs in their efforts to avoid the eviction or, if necessary , that it finance their move nearby, as soon as possible”.