Parents of children at one Vancouver daycare have been left scrambling for alternative arrangements after the operator decided to close.
“I’m really heartbroken because that centre is amazing, the inclusivity of that centre, the diversity of that centre is huge,” said Angela Giannoulis, whose three-year-old son has been attending the Phil Bouvier Family Childcare Centre for two years.
The centre, which is operated by the Vancouver Native Health Society (VNHS), is located in Strathcona and mostly serves families from that neighbourhood and the Downtown Eastside.
“This neighbourhood… is very diverse culturally, socioeconomically and so that centre when you go in and you see all the different kids that are there from all the different backgrounds, they’re all there learning and growing up together, it is amazing because it helps to break those barriers of class and racism and all those things from an early age,” Giannoulis said.
She said that parents were first notified of the society’s intentions on June 4.
On July 10, the City of Vancouver issued a statement touting that the daycare centre had been saved by a $42,000 grant from the city through the 2018 Social Grant program, which includes an annual grant as well as transitional funding, and the Central City Foundation, which owns the building, agreeing to share the cost of transitional funding.
In a statement emailed to the Courier Friday afternoon, the city said that the $42,000 had not yet been released to VNHS because the society has not yet met the conditions of the grant, which includes the requirement of a transition plan and an updated 2018 budget.
“The intent of the grant was to allow the space to continue operating while partners work on a long-term solution to this issue,” the statement reads. “The City has communicated with VNHS and CCF, and is disappointed more immediate action to meet these conditions had not been taken.”
The city is asking the Central City Foundation to confirm its commitment to maintain at least 49 licenced childcare spaces.
“If this cannot be met CCF is obligated to appoint another operator, or otherwise meet its legal obligations to the City.”
In 2007, the foundation received a $200,000 grant from the city to renovate the building. One of the stipulations was that it remains a daycare centre for at least 15 years, if not, the foundation will have to repay the $200,000 back to the city.
“The City knows parents are very concerned, and shares those concerns,” the statement reads. “We will continue to work together [with] CCF and with the Province to find a solution for keeping the valuable childcare spaces available to families who need them most.”
The timing of VNHS’s decision has also raised some questions, coming at the same time employees moved to unionize. According to Labour Relations Board documents, in mid-May the society brought in a consultant to assess the operation. On May 28, the consultant reported back to the society recommending that the daycare be shut down and replaced with a family drop-in centre. On May 30 the Labour Relations Board notified the society that it had received an application from the BC Government Employees Union for certification for employees. That evening, the society’s board of directors met and passed a resolution to close the daycare.
On June 4, the centre held a staff meeting where staff was told the daycare centre would close at the end of July. Two days later the union filed a complaint of unfair labour practice with the Labour Relations Board alleging, among other things, the closure of the daycare is motivated by anti-union sentiments.
The vote on joining the union went ahead on June 8 but the board ordered that ballot box be sealed while outstanding issues were dealt with. The union applied for an interim order prohibiting the closure of the centre, which the society initially opposed.
The hearing at the Labour Relations Board went ahead on July 9 and the society withdrew its objections and agreed to negotiate a settlement. The ballot box was unsealed and the count revealed that 95 per cent of VNHS employees voted in favour of joining the union — 19 employees of the daycare centre and 26 that work in other programs.
The society and the union negotiated a settlement agreement to govern relations between the two sides while a collective agreement is worked out. Part of the settlement agreement is the commitment to keep that daycare centre open until November.
“That bought us some breathing time,” Giannoulis said.
With all the uncertainty surrounding the centre, parents are still looking for alternate childcare arrangements while pushing to save the daycare centre.
An online petition urging the city, the province and the foundation to find a new operator for the daycare was launched and has gathered more than 1,400 signatures since mid-June.
“It’s impossible to find daycare spots,” Giannoulis said, adding that it’s easier to find spots for kids aged 3 to 5.
She recently secured a spot for her son at another daycare, but that was after putting her name on more than 10 waiting lists, and it’s not close to home.
“We’re able to work that, my husband and I, for our family because we can travel a little bit further distance,” she said. “Our scope was a little bit larger but a lot of the families at this centre they don’t have that huge of a range. They walk, they’re on transit, they’re not driving. Everything is within this community.
“The infant/toddler program is the crucial part of the centre because there is not another infant/toddler program within a 20-block radius, so where are families supposed to go?”
The Central City Foundation issued a statement saying it “remains committed to supporting the community and we continue to work with Vancouver Native Health Society (VNHS) to allow them to fulfill their mandate to serve Indigenous families in the inner city… We understand that VNHS and the Ministry of Child and Family Development along with the City of Vancouver are working together for a new model of Indigenous childcare and early years planning.”
The Vancouver Native Health Society declined to comment at this time as its media relations officer is away until after the Labour Day long weekend.
@JessicaEKerr
jkerr@vancourier.com
