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By Emily Keller

CITY SERVICES

CUPE Local asking city to keep public services in-house

Sep 24, 2019 | 11:54 AM

Members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, or CUPE, presented to City Council on Monday to urge the city to keep public services in-house instead of contracting them out.

Many were in attendance during the delegation, including some parents who recently received notice about possible changes coming to childcare services in Grande Prairie.

A letter was sent out last week to parents saying the city is looking into options of leasing space at the Dave Barr Community Centre, a city-run operation, to private childcare providers. Some say that have not received any notice of potential changes coming to Dave Barr.

No final decision or vote has been made yet, but Arlen Miller, Community Services Director with the city, says they have been monitoring expenses of the childcare operations at Dave Barr for a few months now.

“It’s a service that the city got into quite a few years ago, when there was more of a need. At this time, there is less of a need, and well, there’s other providers we feel can provide the service and then we can focus our resources on other needs in the community.”

The city recently raised the fees of the childcare services at Dave Barr, with Miller saying that they found they were on the lower end of fees.

“We should be competitive with the others, we shouldn’t be lower, substantially lower.”

Miller added that they want to ensure the childcare service is provided and will look to lease the space for childcare services only, and that they are looking to move forward with the changes sooner rather than later.

“I’m hopeful that in a week or so, we’ll have a request for proposals advertised, and our plan is to make contact with the other providers in the city and make them aware of the opportunity.”

President of the CUPE Local 787, Randy Wald, says that despite the childcare issue being a prominent one, they want the city to also look at the bigger picture.

“It’s all the services our members do, it’s not just focused on the daycare.”

CUPE has over 680,000 members across Canada, making it the largest union in the country. They represent workers in health care, emergency services, education, early learning and childcare, social services and more. Grande Prairie’s local union is CUPE 787.