A new daycare set to open in September in the R.M. of Laird claimed they were met with a ‘misogynistic and vile’ response when they asked the R.M. for financial support.
Hepburn Childcare Hub (Hub) is set to open in September with 30 licensed daycare spots to support Laird and the towns of Hepburn and Waldheim. Nearly 70 per cent of current registrations are from Laird.
The Hub board has secured $300,000 in capital grant funding from the provincial and federal governments, $29,630 in start-up grants, and raised approximately $6,000 through small fundraisers, but to be operational, the facility needs an outdoor space as per provincial requirements.
On May 5, the daycare facility sent a letter to the R.M. of Laird asking for financial support to build an outdoor playground.
“We would like to request $20,000 to become a stakeholder for the next five years, or a commitment to provide an annual contribution of $4,500 for the next five years,” read the Hub’s letter to the R.M. “To license a childcare facility, there are many boxes to check, one being a fenced outdoor play area,” read the letter. “Our board has decided to create a ‘nature scape’ type of play area, utilizing nature instead of man-made playground objects and materials; also keeping costs more manageable.”
The funding request was immediately denied.
On August 10 at a public R.M. council meeting, the daycare asked the council to reconsider.
An email from the R.M., provided to Global News by the Hub, offered the organization little hope before the council meeting.
“Just to let you know, there have been other child-carers coming to Council for support and have been denied their requests as well,” read the email.
At the council meeting, the Hub claims they were met with ‘a bigoted, misogynistic and vile response’ from the R.M. Reeve and councillors.
The daycare says the reeve stated, “You seem to be taking an awful lot of other people’s money to raise your children.”
Hub vice president Jillian Brown said they tried to explain to the R.M. that the economic benefits would be great for the community.
According to the Hub, an R.M. councillor responded with, “That’s just in your opinion.”
“It’s discrimination in a rural setting against working parents,” Brown said. “You get 40 kilometres outside of Saskatoon and it’s quite shocking just what we are required to deal with. You are contending with municipal governments with very strong biases and prejudice against what they feel a family should look like.”
Brown said that currently, those in the R.M. are having to travel to Saskatoon for childcare, but there aren’t always available licensed spaces.
“For example, Warman has a four-year waiting list for licensed spaces,” Brown said. “Even on the waiting list they prioritize their own residents.”
Without financial support from the R.M., Brown said facility users from the R.M. are going to have to pay an additional $100 annual fee to cover unsupported costs.
“It’s not right that parents be punished. We don’t expect them to make up the whole $20,000 user fee for the park in their registration fees but by increasing the registration fee, it will build awareness. The municipal government making these decisions has impacts on its users.”
Hepburn residents will also have to be prioritized on the waitlist moving forward.
R.M. of Laird resident Stacy Braun said her daughter has been on a waitlist for a daycare spot for three years.
“I’m a single mom of two kids and private daycare is around $2,000 a month,” Braun explained. “These government subsidized daycares in small communities are absolutely vital.”
She is currently registered to take her kids to the Hub when it opens.
Braun said she attended the public council meeting with other mothers to try to sway the R.M.’s decision.
“It was kind of a slap in the face to see their reaction. They didn’t really give us the time of day.”
She said that some of the comments from the reeve and the councillors were derogatory.
“For a small community to grow, we need to have young couples and we need to have young families,” Braun said. “Working moms are not a minority. It’s common to have both parents working now with the cost of living.”
Brown said that the Hub has officially requested the reasoning for why the council denied the funding request. She said they haven’t received a response.
“Our R.M. has no interest in really contributing outside of culverts and roads,” Brown said.
Global News reached out to R.M. via email but did not receive a response.
Global News also called the R.M. reeve and all of the councillors.
Only councillors Lorne Grunau and Ken Fehr picked up, but they declined to comment.
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