Québec solidaire in turn presented, on Monday, an electoral commitment aimed at early childhood.
The spokesperson for the political party, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, was in Rivière-du-Loup with his candidate Myriam Lapointe-Gagnon, to promote the “Baby benefit”.
This commitment consists of a new financial assistance program aimed at new parents who have lost a place in daycare and who cannot return to work for this reason.
A candidate in Rivière-du-Loup-Témiscouata, Ms. Lapointe-Gagnon is the founder of the Ma place au travail movement, which was born out of the mobilization of parents unable to return to work after the birth of a child due to a find a place in daycare.
The Infant Benefit is therefore intended to financially support these parents who have exhausted their benefits from the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP) and who are deprived of income because they have to stay at home to take care of their child, a situation which mainly affects mothers.
These mothers “are getting poorer in the midst of a cost of living crisis. Imagine the pressure and insecurity! “said Mr. Nadeau-Dubois in a press release.
Benefit of $870 per month
Thus, under this program, parents of children under 18 months who have exhausted their QPIP benefits and who cannot return to work while waiting for a place for their child would be entitled to an amount of $870. per month to make up for their loss of income.
Ms. Lapointe-Gagnon said that “over the past year, I have received countless testimonials and horror stories from parents who find themselves at the end of their rope because they have nowhere to send their tiny. And what we are announcing today is concrete help so that parenthood stops rhyming with poverty”.
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois did not hide his satisfaction at having recruited a candidate of this stature. “His presence on our team sends a strong message: the party that defends families is Québec solidaire. The people of Rivière-du-Loup see her going and they know that she is a woman of action and results,” he declared.
The riding was snatched from Liberal Jean D’amour by Caquiste Denis Tardif in 2018 with a narrow majority of nearly 2,000 votes. Québec solidaire was ranked fourth behind the Parti Québécois with 11% of the votes cast.