Sandy Hill Unite! Child Care protest at uOttawa

Carly Huber

When I get asked, “Why do you care so much about child care”, I could go on for hours. It’s a simple question, easy to answer. Instead, we need to change the narrative and start asking: “Why don’t you care about child care?”

You start to see them squirm: any possible response has a smarter reply. It is not difficult to prove why child care matters, in fact, most people will immediately agree without question. So why is it so difficult to make the University of Ottawa care?
The Garderie Bernadette Child Care Centre (GBCCC) opened its doors in 1988, the result of a cooperative effort between students and staff. However, GBCCC has struggled with two primary issues since its inception: the need for expansion to meet the community’s needs, and a lack of cooperation and communication from the university.

Currently, the centre has spots for only 49 children on a campus with 50,000 staff and students; there are hundreds of kids on the waitlist. In addition, it is located in the now decommissioned Brooks Residential Complex, buildings which are slated for demolition at some undetermined future date. In 2022, the university announced it would be terminating its relationship with GBCCC when Brooks comes down. It claims that it is unable to provide a new space. The university proudly advertises that it owns 118 acres of land and 128 buildings, and yet it remains silent on the issue of child care. The clock is ticking; child care at uOttawa seems to be on a path towards destruction.

A coalition has formed to defend the continued need for a child care centre on campus. We are an inter-union group working with CUPE 2626, the Feminist Resource Centre (FRC), OPIRG, and other actors. On March 7, we participated in a march in honour of International Women’s Day and to spread greater awareness about the need for child care at uOttawa. We’ve met with Stéphanie Plante, councillor for Rideau-Vanier ward, and Jenna Sudds, Minister of Families, Children, and Social Services. On March 25, we took part in a conference jointly organized by the feminist and gender studies departments of uOttawa and Carleton. We presented our coalition and hosted a visioning session. We hope to begin child-minding sessions, where parents can study or grade papers while their kids are being watched in the same room by a child care professional.

Thus far, the university refuses to meet with us; neither will it provide students and staff with a timeline for the future of the Garderie Bernadette Child Care Centre. Advocacy for child care has proven to be a long and difficult fight. In our research in the uOttawa archives, we found feminists struggling in the ’70s with the same issues that face us today. We believe that the University of Ottawa’s stubbornness demonstrates a refusal to change, a refusal to grow. To us, it means that uOttawa does not care about parents on campus.