Welcoming the good news: Chomedey MNA Guy Ouellette is pictured here (middle) with Mrs. Elizabeth McLeod, secretary-general of AGAPE, and Kevin McLeod, director of the AGAPE Day-Care Centre, the recipient of 22 new places among the 138 created for the Chomedey riding as part of its share of Laval's 325 new subsidized spots announced by Quebec. 2,000 new $7-a-day places were created province-wide.
(Photo: Martin Alarie)
More day-care space created in Chomedey
138 new spots at $7 a day added to day-care facilities, 22 for AGAPE
As children played nearby, with parents looking on just a few steps away, administrators of the day-care section of the AGAPE Centre expressed satisfaction over the announcement by Chomedey MNA Guy Ouellette that the organization would be benefiting from the creation of 22 new subsidized day-care places.
Elizabeth McLeod, secretary-treasurer of AGAPE, said she was pleased at the news which comes as welcome relief for the organization’s finances, strained by the overwhelming demands that come from its widespread services to new arrivals (immigrants, refugees) and disadvantaged members of cultural groups and of the anglophone community. The organization has been providing these services to the people of Chomedey and Laval for more nearly three decades.
Given their difficult economic situation, many of the families served by AGAPE are unable to pay for the day-care services outright or cannot meet the real costs of the services, paying only in part. “The situation created insecurity in the organization’s finances, compelling the administrators to step up their efforts in fundraising campaigns,” maintains Guy Ouellette.
Mrs. McLeod estimates that with the new subsidies the AGAPE Day-Care can now take in six more youngsters from the waiting list which now numbers about 60.
138 places at $7
AGAPE was not the only group to benefit from the new $7 places. Guy Ouellette announced this past Thursday that the Chomedey riding has been given 138 of the 325 new places to be created on Laval island between now and the end of 2007. Also on the receiving end of new places are the CPE Coordinating Centre - Le chez-moi des petits, the CPE héllinique bambins lavallois (The Hellenic Laval Children’s Day Care), la garderie educative Cinq étoiles, and la garderie l'Oasis bout’chou.
The centres were selected on the basis of optimizing the services of the existing day-care network, with priority given to centres with available space for the new places. Consideration was also given to situations which favoured a quick implementation of the project providing additional places, allowing for the additions to be in place by March 31, 2008. The government also took into account that some centres had operating permits but lacked provisions for $7-a-day places. And finally, the centres selected for these additional subsidies had had no complaints registered against their services.
According to Mr. Ouellette, the new subsidies represent a net gain of about 100 places, with the rest of the spots which were already there, falling into the subsidized category (at $7) from their previously private status.
On a visit to one of the centres affected by the creation of the new places, Guy Ouellette says he met a mother whose three children all attended the day-care. From the $360 she was paying per week, the cost now drops to $105.
“For families with several children, this decision (to create new places at $7) represents the lifting of a tremendous financial burden from their shoulders,” Mr. Ouellette notes.
The overall plan for new day-care places at $7 calls for an additional 2,000 spots across Quebec, the beginning of an election campaign commitment made by the Liberal Party of Quebec to create 20,000 new subsidized places between 2007 and 2012.
Agape
(Photo: Martin Alarie)
Météo: Laval, 18 juillet 2008 / 19°C
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/ Vents: 11 Km/h / Humidité relative: 88 % 
Steven Guilbeault - Chronique environnement
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