As opposition grows, Quebec union calls on province to suspend new COVID rules for daycares
CBC
Opposition is growing to Quebec's new controversial rules about COVID-19 in childcare centres (CPEs), which exempt children and educators in contact with a positive case from isolating.
Under new rules quietly passed on to childcare services by Quebec's Family Ministry on Dec. 30, children and staff who have been in contact with an infected person at the daycare can continue to show up at the centre — provided they have no symptoms.
On Monday afternoon, a union representing 3,200 educators in CPEs called for Family Minister Mathieu Lacombe to follow the lead of Montreal Public Health and suspend the new directives.
"Child-care workers and staff work in close quarters within two metres of children aged zero to five who are neither vaccinated nor masked," said president of the Federation of Early Childhood Workers of Quebec (FIPEQ-CSQ), Valérie Grenon.
"We need to consider the unique nature of our services and get clear, science-based answers to reassure our members."
Earlier Monday, Montreal Public Health said it would be suspending the application of the new measures and would continue "to isolate moderate-risk contacts until further notice," a recorded message from the department said.
Therefore, in Montreal CPEs, children and staff who have been in contact with a positive case at the daycare must still isolate for 10 days, per the province's directives before the holidays, regardless of their symptoms. Testing for the virus is also recommended before the return to daycare.
Elsewhere in Quebec, according to the new directives, if a child in a group tests positive or if there are several cases reported in the same daycare, both children and staff who are asymptomatic are not required to get tested and may continue to frequent the facility.
Until now, during the isolation period of a child who had been in contact with a positive case, parents were asked to get their child tested twice, even if they were asymptomatic.
Quebec's relaxed rules have been widely criticized by some of the province's daycare operators and associations.
"I find this alarming," said Brigitte Prévost, general director of À Petits Pas CPE in Dorval, in a Monday morning interview.
She says the government's new protocols are the wrong move, considering children in daycare are too young to be vaccinated, they don't wear masks and asking them to keep a two-metre distance is nearly impossible.
"We risk finding ourselves with uncontrollable outbreaks," she said.
According to Radio-Canada, outside of Montreal, other regional public health directors have expressed their concerns about the new directives in CPEs and plan to follow the example of Montreal Public Health.
Four-time Olympian Ellie Black and Mi’kmaw ethnologist Roger Lewis are among the latest Nova Scotian appointees to the Order of Canada.
Christmas is often a time of gathering and community for church communities, but one church on the outskirts of Fredericton found itself a victim of theft this holiday season.
A beloved Winnipeg comedian who was killed in a house fire was a "gentle giant" who had wanted to be a showman since he was a boy, his aunt says.
As the Town of Outlook continues to add up the cost of a recent incident that prompted fears about the safety of its water supply, the chief administrative officer suggests enhanced security measures are needed.
The motto for members of the Order of Canada stood out to Michelle Good when she got a letter in September, informing her she had been selected for the highest civilian honour.
Get your confetti and noisemakers ready and settle in to ring in 2026 with two back-to-back New Year's Eve specials on CBC.
A person has died after being caught and buried in an avalanche near Tumbler Ridge in northern B.C., according to Avalanche Canada.
How well did you keep track of what happened on P.E.I. this year?
For those hoping to ring in the new year in style, there are a variety of events across Toronto.
Small bridges around Paulatuk, N.W.T., are giving harvesters a safer way to get to their camps, as climate change makes travelling on the land more dangerous.
A year-end poll from Nanos suggests Canadians will want to see action from the Liberal government on major economic files in the new year.
City of Calgary officials say they have identified the location of what they are calling a second “catastrophic” water main break in the northwest in less than two years, but they do not have a timeline as to when it might be fixed.