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No decision yet on changes to $5 day care, Charest says [CA-QC]

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Author: 
Dougherty, Kevin
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Publication Date: 
11 Nov 2003
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Quebec has not yet determined the fate of $5 day care, Premier Jean Charest said yesterday.

A Montreal newspaper reported Saturday that the Charest government will boost the charge parents pay for day care to $6 a day, from the present $5, and to $10 for parents with a family income higher than $70,000.

The Charest government remains committed to the day-care network created by the Parti Québécois, which was meant to be universal but falls short in providing enough places to meet demand, forcing parents who cannot get their children into the Centres de petite enfance to pay as much as $20 to $30 a day for private day care.

"We are looking right now at all the options and our No. 1 priority, the first thing we're looking at, is ensuring that there are enough places for all the children who are on waiting lists right now," Charest said before leaving for St. John's to meet with Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams.

In August, by-invitation-only hearings were held and Family Minister Claude Béchard said the government wanted to act quickly, announcing new daily charges for day care by mid September.

- reprinted from Montreal Gazette

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