Council to reassess closure of city-owned daycare

Sudbury city council will vote on a motion Tuesday evening that would reassess the planned closure of the Junior Citizens Daycare.

Council approved a transition plan Aug. 12, 2014, to close the city-owned facility.

Tuesday's motion, put forward by Ward 6 Coun. René Lapierre, would postpone the closure of Junior Citizens until a “detailed cost analysis including the total number of city employees affected, the costs associated with bumping rights and severance pay, as well as an analysis of the impact on the wait list and late night French language spaces” is presented to council for review at its meeting May 12, 2015.

By February 2015, the daycare's 20 employees had received their pink slips. It is scheduled to close June 30.

Unlike most daycare facilities in Sudbury, Junior Citizens is open until midnight, and offers bilingual services so it can accommodate more families.

But because it's staffed by municipal employees, wages at Junior Citizens are about 50 per cent higher than workers in non-government daycares. As a result, the facility consumes a larger proportion of funding than other daycares. In 2013, for example, subsidies at Junior Citizens were $6,304 per child, compared to $3,063 for non-city facilities.

Child care services in Sudbury have received $1.8 million in cuts, and that number is expected to expand to $3.6 million by 2016.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents staff at Junior Citizens, along with several parents, has opposed council's decision to cut the service.

“If I were a councillor saddled with this unpopular decision to close JCDC (Junior Citizens Daycare) and displace the lives of so many families, I would want to revisit the vote that closed the program,” said parent Vanessa McMahon in a CUPE press release.

“It’s not like Sudbury has an abundance of Francophone centres that offer afterhours care. We don’t have enough child care spaces, period. I don’t think the previous council really looked at all the factors and costs associated with closing JCDC.”

McMahon has two children at the daycare. She tried a community-based daycare for her 18-month-old toddler, but returned to Junior Citizens because of its “superior program, led by early childhood educators.