EXCERPTS:
The Parti Québécois government unveiled how it will distribute 15,000 new $7-a-day daycare spaces across the province.
Quebec Families Minister Nicole Léger said every region of the province will get new spaces, including more than 2,000 in Montreal. Another 2,000 will be reserved for the province's underprivileged neighborhoods. And 300 spaces will be set-aside for aboriginal communities, said Léger.
Almost 85 per cent of new spaces will go to non-profit government run CPE daycares, which Léger said offer more consistency across the system.
"We made a choice to favour social equality," she said.
But some private operators say the PQ is making a mistake.
Private centres disappointed
President of The Quebec Private Daycares Association, Sylvain Lévesque, said private daycares are better for parents and tax payers.
"We have exactly the same rules and regulations," said Lévesque. "We develop the spot more rapidly and the spots cost less."
The province will begin taking applications from daycares for the new $7-a-day spaces on February 14. The application window will stay open for four months, ending on June 14.
The PQ has promised to add 28,000 daycare spaces-including the 15,000 announced Thursday and another 13,000 allocated but not created by the former Charest government-to bring the province's total to 250,000 daycare spaces by 2016.
By then, the added annual cost to taxpayers will be an estimated $260-million.
Distribution across the province
Bas-Saint-Laurent
Added 396
Total 5,284
Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean
Added 240
Total 7, 333
Quebec City
Added 1,433
Total 20,436
Mauricie
Added 439
Total 6,909
Estrie
Added 645
Total 9,667
Montreal
Added 2,241
Total 59,735
Outaouais
Added 680
Total 12,295
Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Added 268
Total 4,797
Côte-Nord
Added 270
Total 3,092
Nord-du-Québec
Added 160
Total 3,049
Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine
Added 252
Total 2,655
Chaudière-Appalaches
Added 802
Total 12,757
Laval
Added 601
Total 12,909
Lanaudière
Added 1,425
Total 15,309
Laurentides
Added 1,291
Total 17,792
Montérégie
Added 3,122
Total 48,077
Centre-du-Québec
Added 361
Total 6,803
-reprinted from CBC News