It is a huge problem because the waiting list varies depending on the season. We often say that the famous waiting lists are not waiting lists, they are lists of francophones that we are losing. They cannot afford to stay on the waiting list. They end up finding another child care centre and if that place happens to be English, then we lose those francophones.
Our reality is that this is still the case in major urban centres. We still have waiting lists. In rural areas, things are different. Work there has to be much more focused on francophiles because francophones have often abandoned the rural areas. We have to work on that. We do not want to lose them as well. We have to continue working to keep them among us.
In the brief that we submitted, we offer solutions. We have to keep child care spots available for francophone rights holders.
For example, in Gravelbourg, there is a limited number of spots, but under departmental requirements, those child care spots must be filled. The child care centres have no choice if they want to be profitable.
A francophone could request a spot for six months down the road, but spots cannot be left open. The places have to be filled under departmental criteria.
One of these days, if we really want to have an effective child care system, we might have to find a method that would keep these spots open.