Public daycares that stop offering lunch will face sanctions

QUEBEC CITY – Panic buttons went off when subsidized daycares suggested they may cut their lunch programs because of the Liberal budget on Wednesday.

Quebec’s Association of CPEs quickly moved the clarify what could be cut.

“Some daycares may have to stop providing a meal which is breakfast,” said CPE association spokeswoman Gina Gasparini.

“I think it would be putting our head in the sand to say that we can cut this kind of money year after year after year and let people think it’s not going to affect services.”

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Family Minister Francine Charbonneau is asking that subsidized daycares fork over $74 million this year, noting the network is sitting on a surplus of $376 million.

“It is unacceptable that an association claims it doesn’t have money,” said Charbonneau.

The minister told reporters when she heard some CPEs were considering cutting lunch, she thought it was a bad April Fool’s joke.

The issue is no laughing matter, the Parti Québécois insisted in question period.

“The Liberals are dismantling the entire network, which has taken 20 years to build,” said PQ MNA Mathieu Traversy.

Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) leader François Legault said his party would have left daycares alone.

“Before cutting $74 million they should have made a study to see if they can do that without cutting in services. In the plan of the CAQ, we didn’t suggest any cuts for daycare installations.”

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The opposition also railed against Bill 28 creating a sliding scale for daycare fees.

The new fees ranging from $7.30 to $20 a day were supposed to come into effect April 1st.

They will only apply once the bill is passed into law, and parents won’t be charged retroactively.

“Every month that we delay, it’s $35 million dollars in revenue that we don’t generate so it has an impact on our budget,” said Finance Minister Carlos Leitao.

The Couillard government is considering invoking closure to pass its daycare reform.

“They mismanaged their own calendar, it’s their own calendar,” said PQ MNA Jean-Francois Lisée.

In the meantime, Charbonneau said she will not tolerate that subsidized daycares stop offering lunches and snacks. She said those CPEs will face sanctions.