EXCERPTS
Family Minister Francine Charbonneau hedged on the question of whether Quebec plans to raise the price at public daycares.
The Couillard government is on the verge of raising the base, universal $7.30 fee at daycares by a dollar and a supplementary fee pegged to parents' income, Le Devoir reported Wednesday based on an internal cabinet document. Under the new arrangement, parents would have to pay between $8 and $20 per child a day, starting April 1 of next year.
Education Minister Yves Bolduc wouldn't say if the same price increase would also apply to daycare services in schools. "We will have to look at the different scenarios," he said.
Asked at point blank if fees at subsidized daycares would rise, Charbonneau told journalists: "We never said they wouldn't. We never said they would."
"We're looking at everything to make sure what we have right now, we can keep. The state we are in we cannot keep," she added.
Quebec recently upped the price at subsidized daycares by $0.30 after it had been frozen for a decade. Introduced by Parti Québécois Family Minister Pauline Marois in 1997, the daycares originally charged $5 a day.
The Parti Québécois, Coalition Avenir Québec and Québec Solidaire roundly denounced the idea of increasing the price at daycares. "The cat's out of the bag: the premier has confirmed higher taxes, a tax on families," PQ interim leader, Stéphane Bédard, said in question period.
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For family incomes below $75,000 a year: $8 a day.
$75,000 to $100,000: $8 to $12 a day.
$100,000 to $150,000: $12 to $15 a day.
$150,000 to $200,000: $15 to $20 a day.
Read the full article at the Montreal Gazette