Private daycares go on strike

By:Six Cent Press

300 private and non-subsidized daycares in Quebec went on strike on Tuesday in order to protest the how the government is distributing the 28,000 new daycare spaces.

The Coalition for Private Non-subsidized Daycares is asking for the government to change the 10,000 empty spots available into subsidized spots, in order to save millions that would go towards constructing new spots in publicly run daycares.

Jennifer Park, a spokeswoman for the Coalition believes that more money should be spent on established daycares, as opposed to changing the already private daycares.

Parks has stated that by doing so, the government would be saving 260 million dollars.

Parti Québécois has also planned to bring the provincial total of daycares to 250, 000 in the next three years. The already 13,000 spaces set aside by the former Charest government will be allotted, as well as an additional 15, 000 new spaces.

Bruno-Pierre Cyr, a spokesman for Quebec’s family minister, has said that parents have expressed that they want the government to spend more on public daycare spaces as opposed to private centres.

However, some parents are in support of the strike, stating that public daycares take too long to get into.

While many parents support the strike, countless had to stay home today to look after their children who would otherwise be at daycare.

The protest, which occurred on Tuesday, took place at noon outside of the National Assembly in Quebec City as well as outside the premier’s office in downtown Montreal.