The provincial government announced Thursday it is contributing $390,000 towards a new child-care centre in Ucluelet….

During the ceremony, Reid and Chong presented St. Jacques and the child care society with a large novelty check for $390,000.

“Some of the communities may be rich in their history and culture, but in terms of their tax base are really strapped financially,” said Chong.

The money was donated through the Towns for Tomorrow Program – a provincial government program that funds communities with populations under 5,000 for infrastructure projects up to $500,000.

The government funds 80 per cent of the project and the community makes up the difference.

St. Jacques said Ucluelet raised its share thanks to work by the child-care society and a donation by Marine Drive Properties Ltd.

Chong said Ucluelet’s decision to build a child-care centre for its infrastructure project was a unique request.

“It’s the only one that I saw, and it caught my attention, and we looked further into it and said ‘it really is a worthy project.’ And I threw my support behind it and got my colleagues onboard.” …

“It’s going to be built to showcase that even a child-care centre can have a green component to it so that future generations of young children from the very beginning understand what it means to think of things like turning off the lights and saving on energy costs,” said Chong.

“It’s a key piece of infrastructure that we’ve missing,” added Jacques. “There’s still a lot of work to do and we’re looking forward to rolling up our sleeves with the daycare ladies and getting on with it.”

She said before any construction can begin, the province must approve a grant for the Community HUB project.

“We anticipate it will be in the not-too-distant future.”

… she knows of many families who have left the community because of a lack of child-care facilities. “I know of at least a dozen or more who have left just because there is in where to put their kids,” said Cortes. She said she hopes the facility will make it easier on local families. “I think it will be a good place for their kids to go and hopefully more families will stay around town,” said Cortes.

Coun. Nick Thorp said it is about time Ucluelet got a child-care facility.

“It is an absolute necessity in a working town like Ucluelet,” said Thorp.