QUEBEC CITY – Francine Lessard, president of the Conseil québécois des services de garde éducatifs à l’enfance (CQSGEE), is asking Quebec’s Family Minister to crack down on delinquent family daycare operators before making cuts to the network.
She said daycare coordinators are afraid to do so.
“You don’t think it happens in our business, we don’t work in construction, but yes it does happen,” she said.
“I’ve witnessed people getting their tires slashed.”
Lessard’s association represents 100 public daycares and 50 coordinating offices.
She estimates every year, about 1,500 family daycares bill the government for unused places, and that ends up costing taxpayers about $15 million.
Lessard says if Quebec cracked down, it could free up to 8,000 spots.
“The abuse of subsidies has become normal,” she said.
“We have to stop the bleeding.”
One family daycare coordinator agreed to speak to the media on the condition she remain anonymous.
“We see daycares billing five days a week for a child who’s only there three days a week,” the woman said.
Quebec’s Family Minister says she’s aware of the situation and has seven inspectors working on it.
“I do take the responsibility of saying it’s a fraud,” said Francine Charbonneau.
“What parents are saying is that sometimes they want a place and they’re not ready to put their child in daycare right away and the daycare says if you want to keep the place, I’m going to start charging you now. We have to go and see how we can do better.”
The PQ argues the minister has had six months to come up with a better strategy.
“We encourage the minister to do her job,” said PQ family critic Mathieu Traversy.
Charbonneau hasn’t promised to hire more inspectors or prosecute fraudsters.
Rather, she is inviting parents to take on a more active role and blow the whistle on daycare operators prepared to cheat the system.
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