Daycare won't be 'bullied' into going public

The president of the Early Learning Operators group of P.E.I. says she's not buying into the province's new daycare plan.

'Right now I have too many questions.' Lynn Hogan

Lynn Hogan, who is owner of Campus Kids, has decided to keep her childcare centre private rather than accept increased provincial regulation in exchange for increased provincial funding.

Hogan said it is the toughest decision she's had to make in her 20 years in the business.

"Right now I have too many questions," she said.

"I feel that I'm being bullied: you do this now it's going to be simple, but if you try to do it later it's going to be more complicated for you."

The province has given daycare operators until July to either go private, sell back their licence, or become one of its new centresfollowing new regulations. Hogan said she wants to choose how to spend her money, and she is not convinced that the provincial regulations would mean improvements at her centre.

"That's a step backwards for my centre; I think quality would be lost," she said.

Hogan estimates parents who choose her daycare will end up paying about $3 more a day than they would at a public centre. She is prepared to lose families.

But while she is ready for a possible hit in the fall when the new regulations and funding come into place, things could get even tougher for her in two years. That's when the province says it may cut off all funding to private centres. Right now she gets about $15,000 a year.

"If that's what happens and I'm forced out of business, then I will go out of business at that time," she said.

Hogan has sent a letter out to the families at her daycare explaining her decision.