City Kids to close its doors in June
Peace River Block Daily News
27 Apr 2007
By: Joe Fries

Daycare options in the city are about to shrink considerably.

The City of Dawson Creek has served notice that it intends to close its City Kids Daycare facility June 29. Out-of-school care at various elementary schools will continue.

Staff at the City Kids facility, which is located downtown near the Memorial Arena, have been informed about the closure, as have the approximately 30 families who use it.

The news didn't sit well with some.

"It's going to impact us," said Robert Grismer, whose four-year-old daughter accesses the facility. "I know of a couple single moms in this town that this is just going to devastate them."

Grismer and his wife are both seasonal workers whose jobs require them to work outside of regular business hours, and "this is one of the few daycares that's open for 11 hours a day." ...

As the City's director of parks and recreation, Rob Bremner is responsible for the operation of City Kids. He said about 10 families take advantage of the service full-time. Another 20 or so use it part-time.

He outlined several reasons behind the closure: an inability to attract and retain staff; the building is over 40 years old and has turned into a money pit; and City Kids is in the red and projected to lose $125,000 in 2007.

"Those are probably the three key issues, but the most prominent certainly was the (inability) to attract and retain staff," Bremner said in an interview on Thursday.

In January, the City reached a new contract agreement with City Kids staff that boosted their wages, but Bremner said the new pay scale still doesn't match that offered in the private sector.

"We did our best to run a good program and service it," said Bremner. "But at what level do you use taxpayers' money to compete with private business?"

Gifford couldn't say exactly what the exact differential is between what her employees make and what City Kids staff make. However, she doesn't think it's a substantial difference.

City Kids currently employs four casual workers, but Bremner expected they would be retained after the facility closes.

"Their hours might be less than they were before, but we can certainly find things for them to do with our out-of-school care if that's what they desire to do," Bremner said. "We're not displacing any employees."

Grismer feels for them and said, "It's a shame because the staff here is really top-notch."

The concerned father wonders how the City can come up with money for other big-ticket projects, but not for daycare. ...

But coughing up the money to cover the daycare's costs might amount to an unfair subsidy to the relatively small number of residents who use the facility, Bremner explained.

And with childcare funding cuts at the federal and provincial level, "it looks bad on the municipal government because it all gets downloaded to us."

According to the City's 2007 financial planning expenditure worksheet, just over $231,000 had been allotted to the youth care centre. About $100,000 of its operating budget is covered by the fees parents pay, which average around $28 per child per day.