Public vs. private

OK so I just re-read this and it's a very long post! I guess I had to get some stuff off my chest!

I live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, which is a great place to live. I've already posted about how much I love the multicultural vibe this city has, and so many things to offer: museums, restaurants, shows, etc. I am so grateful to live somewhere that is safe and peaceful and have an amazing quality of life. Of course I know that isn't true for everyone, but as far as cities go, this one does a pretty good job of helping the less fortunate. Now I'm going to get into the public vs. private debate today, because there are many things that have been brewing in my mind for quite a while. I'll start off with the negatives to end on a positive note.

The roads here are ridiculously bad. They are notorious for having cracks and potholes, and often you'll hear people say it's because of the weather (side note: there is currently a huge snow storm and it's March 30th... no spring yet here!). You only have to cross the border into Ontario or New York or Vermont to know that the weather thing is a huge lie. They have similar weather conditions and their roads are amazing. So what's the problem? There is a huge construction mafia here, the government actually had to make a public inquiry to try to catch the 'bad guys' of the construction world. And even if they catch a few, my guess is that generally speaking, the situation will still be bad. As I understand it, government officials give contracts to 'friends', who then 'fix' the roads... with the worst kinds of materials so that they'll have to fix them again next season... So that's the first bad publicly managed thing here in Quebec.

The next few are very similar. A two-tiered system has been set up and I'm not even sure that's what the government was going for when it started. I'm a teacher. I would love to teach in a public school, however, if I want to have a job security and know where I am teaching a few months in advance, I have to wait 5-7 years for a permanent contract. During those years, I would have to substitute teach and hope for maternity leave contracts to build up my seniority. When Paul and I decided to move back to Montreal after living in Mexico, this was not an option we could afford, as he was not able to work because of his immigration status. There was no way I was going to be the main bread winner not knowing if I had a job from day to day. So I applied and got a job in a private school. Five years later, I have moved to another private school where I am sure I will have a job next year, most likely in Kindergarten, which is my preference. In the public sector, you can teach grade 1 one year and grade 6 the next, which means a lot of planning and a lot of new experiences. When you stick with the same grade for more than one year, your expertise builds up and you become a more confident teacher. Why the public sector has not figured this out is beyond me!

The health services are pretty similar. It is very common for people not to have a family doctor here, because there just aren't enough doctors (due to many factors; among which are salary and language). I luckily have a paediatrician for my baby, who is the same doctor who followed me during my pregnancy, so I can ask her about any little ailments I might have. My husband and I do not have a family doctor, which means we have to go to a drop-in clinic if/when we are sick. What tends to happen is that we don't ever go to the doctor when we are sick because who wants to sit in a waiting room with other sick people all day? The other options here are to go to the emergency room at the hospital or to pay to see a private doctor. We have tended to just not go anywhere and wait until we get healthy again, but this seems like a fault in the public system. I think preventative care would be best, and having incentives for doctors to stay in Quebec would probably be a good idea too!

In a similar vein, the daycare situation is a nightmare. Now there is definitely a silver lining, in that public daycares in Quebec cost 7$ a day - yes you read that right: 7$!!! Which is amazing IF you can get a spot. What I have heard is that is normally takes 4 to 5 years to get a spot in one of these public daycares, which is ridiculous, because at that point your baby will be going to preschool or Kindergarten. I am on waiting lists for three of these public daycares and am hoping to get lucky, but I also have looked into home daycares and private daycares which are subsidized (oh I forgot to tell you about private subsidized schools, which seems so paradoxal!). I'm also on waiting lists for about 10-15 private daycares, but as you can understand, they are all FULL! Finding a good daycare is a nightmare! And imagine if you were on welfare, it would make more sense to stay home on welfare than to look for a daycare.

Ok enough with the Debbie Downer stuff... here comes the positive aspects of paying a lot of taxes. Here are some things we get out of it:

The swimming pool, community center and hockey arena by my house are free! Completely free! Which means that even before becoming pregnant, I would go swimming once or twice a week to keep in shape. I love swimming laps. Since January, I've been going with my baby once a week. The pool also offers swim classes, but I was confident that I could teach my daughter how to enjoy the water, so I just go to the free swim time. It makes a really fun activity for baby and mommy completely free.

In a similar vein, the public library across the street from where I live is AMAZING! And free, of course. For kids, story time for 0-2 year olds is held every two weeks, the book and toy collection is amazing, and there is free computer access as well. For adults, the book collection is pretty good, and there are also CDs and DVDs to borrow. The quiet workspace has proven to be a haven for me every week in order to get my Master's readings and homework done.

While I do my readings and homework in the library, I am able to leave my daughter at a drop-off daycare. It is a subsidized daycare, so it only costs 4$ for a 3 hour chunk of time. I absolutely LOVE the daycare workers and trust them completely with my baby. I so wish that daycare could be full-time, but it is ONLY a drop-off daycare, open Monday to Thursday, and you can send your baby from either 9-12am or 1-4pm, but not the whole day. At this same place, workshops and development classes are offered and are completely free! I go to a mommy/baby group one a week with my daughter and am able to do different activities and meet different specialists (dental hygienist, nutritionist, etc.) all for free!

There are also breastfeeding groups every two weeks at the community clinic where moms can go to talk about various issues they are having and can find support.

And here comes the most amazing aspect of public support: how am I able to do all of these free activities every week? I am on paid maternity leave for a year. One whole year! Not only that, I was on preventative leave for 9 months because of the high risk of catching childhood diseases which could affect my fetus when I was working with young children in Kindergarten. So there may be many things that need improvement, but in general, I'm happy to live in a society that has chosen to respect mothers (I should say parents - dads get 5 weeks of paternity leave and then the maternity leave can actually be divided between parents if that is the couple's choice) and babies. This makes paying taxes A-OK for me. The roads may be bad and the healthcare and education situation may not be ideal, but in general, I think we have it really good here!