Quebec will save 9.1 million by ceasing to reimburse the costs of schools which open their sports facilities to citizens outside of school hours, a decision which mainly affects the island of Montreal and Laval, but also cities in the metropolitan suburbs and of the Eastern Townships.
Posted at 5:21 p.m.
Municipal elected officials denounced this “decision disconnected from reality”, which “takes citizens hostage”, during a press conference on Thursday in Verdun.
For example, certain activities offered by the Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough in schools in its sector could be canceled at the end of January, indicated the borough mayor, Jim Beis.
“If we have to pay for the rental of school gymnasiums, it could go up to $700,000, which is impossible for us. A young person who pays $50 to register for basketball during the winter could have to pay four times as much,” he lamented. “These schools were paid for by taxpayers, they belong to the citizens. They should be able to use them outside of school hours,”
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, LA PRESSE
The mayor of the LaSalle borough Nancy Blanchet, the mayor of Montreal Valérie Plante and the mayor of the Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough Jim Beis
Pierrefonds-Roxboro had agreements with two school boards on sharing school facilities. The Marguerite-Bourgeoys School Service Center has agreed to maintain access to its schools until May, but the Lester B. Pearson School Board has decided to put an end to municipal activities at the end of January, since its budget does not allow it not assume the expenses linked to the opening of its facilities on weekends, reports Mr. Beis.
The mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, as well as the president of the Union of Municipalities of Quebec, Martin Damphousse, and the mayors of Verdun, Marie-Andrée Mauger, and LaSalle, Nancy Blanchet, also asked the Ministry of Education of Quebec (MEQ) to reverse its decision, during the press conference.
It’s up to municipalities to pay, says the minister
Eleven school service centers in Quebec, out of 72, requested reimbursement from the ministry for their costs related to the opening of their premises in the evening and on weekends, so that all citizens have access to them. In addition to the five centers located on the island of Montreal, these are the CSS de Laval, the CSS des Affluents, in Repentigny, the CSS des Patriotes, in St-Bruno, the CSS des Grandes-Seigneuries, in La Prairie, of the CSS des Sommets, in Magog, and the CSS des Hauts-Cantons, in East Angus.
This measure cost the MEQ 9.1 million per year.
“The vast majority of CSSs in Quebec have agreements with the municipalities in their territory without the government compensating them monetarily. We think that the few CSS affected can do so in turn,” commented the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, on the X networks and Facebook. “We also call on municipalities to discuss with their CSS in order to reach an agreement as is done elsewhere. »
-Since the City of Montreal denounced this decision on Monday in municipal council, the MEQ had not specified which regions were affected and what amount was at stake. The news therefore caused panic among amateur sports federations, who feared that their followers across Quebec must pay much more for their activities.
Read Access to school sports facilities: compromised amateur sport
Faced with the prospect of having to foot the bill, municipal elected officials denounce the accumulation of new expenses imposed on them by the Quebec government.
Valérie Plante gave the example of homelessness, where insufficient investments from the Ministry of Health and Social Services force cities to develop services.
But above all, she argued that, since 2020, municipalities have had to pay millions of dollars to provide land for future schools. “It was Montrealers who paid for the land with their taxes, and then we would ask them to pay for access to this school’s gymnasium? It makes no sense,” said the mayor.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, LA PRESSE
The president of the Union of Municipalities of Quebec, Martin Damphousse
Municipalities and districts do not intend to prevent students from using municipal facilities during school hours, such as arenas, libraries or sports fields. “But by passing us a new bill, it is the municipalities who will have the odiousness to tell citizens that they must pay additional costs,” lamented Martin Damphousse.
In LaSalle, municipal employees are looking for places to relocate certain activities, explained the borough mayor, Nancy Blanchet. “But it’s complicated to discuss prices for each use, it takes a long time to renegotiate everything,” she said. The government’s political discourse advocates optimization and budgetary rigor, but the new situation will require that cities and school service centers bill each other, which takes more time and more employees. »
“We will do everything to ensure these services,” assured Valérie Plante. But it is our responsibility to denounce this irresponsible decision by the government which is taking families and cities hostage, by telling us that we must assume the bill. »
