Majority of Quebec parents dissatisfied with municipal services

According to a recent Leger poll carried out on behalf of the Early Childhood Observatory, a project focused on ensuring that the development and well-being of Quebec’s youngest children has a place at the top of the province’s list of social priorities, 91 per cent of Quebec parents with children five years old or younger feel their municipality doesn’t provide adequate services for their children. In the Eastern Townships that number is lower, but still significant at 78 per cent.

“There is really a need,” said Fannie Dagenais, director of the observatory, adding that, “Only 17 per cent of parents believe their municipality is the level of government best equipped to support the development and wellbeing of their children.”

Dagenais said that the research team was surprised by the results, noting that municipal governments are generally much closer to their populations than their provincial or federal counterparts. Despite that proximity, however, study respondents said that they felt their children got the most support from the provincial government (51 per cent) followed by the federal government (27 per cent.)

“We know that municipalities have great influence on the quality of life and environment in which very young children grow up,” the project director said, offering the examples of library children’s programming and public playgrounds as situations in which municipal governments help foster healthy environments for children. “Maybe this shows us that the offering needs to be better communicated.”

Dagenais said that the study was carried out online between the end of September and the beginning of October and 1,000 Quebec residents aged 18 or over who have children aged 5 and under and who speak French or English responded. Despite the survey being available to both English and French speakers, the director said that the results do not differentiate between responses from the two language groups, nor do they offer a breakdown by municipality.

The observatory commissioned the study in order to raise the profile of the needs of young children and their families in the lead up to the municipal elections.

“We wanted to take the opportunity, during the election period, to give a voice to very young children,” Dagenais said. “They cannot speak for themselves.”

In the name of trying to improve access to services or communication about what services exist, the observatory has already sent the results of the survey out to municipalities across the province, but the project director said that it stops short of providing specific recommendations. The results do, however, provide a ranked series of priorities created by parents in each region.

In the Townships, Dagenais said the three top priorities were the creation of events and outings aimed at families, the installation of parks and playgrounds with activities adapted and accessible to young children, and the implementation of more parent-child activities. On that last note the director pointed out that the Eastern Townships was one of very few regions that identified activities that parents and children can do together as a key objective. When asked what would prompt them to participate in municipal programs and activities, 75 per cent of respondents said that free or affordably priced access would be determining factors in whether they use these services. 52 per cent felt it was important to have schedules that are adapted to working hours.

“What we hope is that every municipality will have a look at their services and see if there is something that should be improved to reach the needs of parents of very young children,” Dagenais said.

According to the observatory the Eastern Townships had 20,124 children aged 0-5 in 2015 representing 6.2 per cent of the region’s population.