Official Languages Committee on Feb. 7th, 2011

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

You have seven. And at what age do you accept children?

[Isabelle St-Gelais]

We take them from the age of six months.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

So, you need special services. You need three additional areas.

[Isabelle St-Gelais]

Yes, that's the minimum.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

You also have to enlarge the kitchen.

[Isabelle St-Gelais]

Yes, it would be nice.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Have you applied to the government?

[Isabelle St-Gelais]

We are working on that.

[Martin Guilbeault]

Just before Isabelle took that position, we had begun to think about expansion. There was a change in management. So we want to start the process up again.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

So you haven't had any answer. Actually, you haven't even applied yet. But you are in the process of doing so.

[Martin Guilbeault]

We haven't applied, but we do have a letter of support from the Commission scolaire francophone du Yukon. We forwarded a letter to the Yukon government, asking if it would be possible to acquire the property, and the government wrote back saying that, because this is currently the subject of a court action--

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

But the day care centre and the school are two separate organizations.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Ms. Guay.

[Martin Guilbeault]

If you don't mind--

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

I would like to know why the day care and the school--

[André Bourcier]

Is it all right if I answer?

We are asking to acquire the land because the lot on which the school is built belongs to the Ministry of Education. We built the day care centre, which is an independent non-profit organization, on the school lot. As a result, the lot does not belong to the day care centre, but the building does. We are currently in court, because we are claiming both the lot and the building. Depending on the decision, the lot will end up being the property either of the Ministry of Education or the school board. We have an agreement with the day care centre. Indeed, both parties are saying that they are not opposed to expansion of the day care centre. Both parties are saying that, whoever owns the land, they will not oppose construction. So, we have told the day care centre administration to go ahead. If they find funding to expand, then they should expand. If it's our land, we will be very happy that they're there. If it's the government's land, well, it's already said yes, so it will not be in a position to oppose this.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Thank you for clarifying that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you.

You did say you have 52 children attending the day care, correct?

[Isabelle St-Gelais]

In the after-school program.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Do you know the approximate number of spots that you would like to add through your expansion project, or is it too early to know that? You talked about three areas, but--

[Isabelle St-Gelais]

Right now, we are refusing children because it also depends on the space we can use in the school. They have to have a place.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Would you be doubling the day care's current capacity?

[Isabelle St-Gelais]

We will if that corresponds to the need. We are a service, so we are here to meet whatever need exists. If the parents need the service, I don't see--

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

So, you will be reviewing that.

[Isabelle St-Gelais]

Yes, we are reviewing it. We can't--