A daycare owner who is trying to set up a second facility in Kelligrews is frustrated with delays from government to get things off the ground.
Coady Hardy is the owner of Little Stars Daycare, a for-profit daycare located in a building near the intersection of Topsail Road and Columbus Drive.
Hardy says the time from application for government funding to approval for that facility was pretty seamless and they were able to get to work quickly.
Now, Hardy says he is trying to establish a not-for-profit daycare inside the building next to Pipers in Kelligrews.
Hardy is looking to open up a second daycare in the Pipers plaza in Kelligrews (Google Maps)
He applied for funding in November, but Hardy says things have been much different this time around.
He says several meetings were held with the department of education before they submitted their application, and it seemed like they were “on board” with what he is trying to do. Now, Hardy says when he sends off emails he either gets a reply saying that when they get an update they will let him know, or he gets no response at all.
Both PC leader Tony Wakeham and NDP leader Jim Dinn have slammed government in recent days for delays related to childcare spaces.
Wakeham says the “silence” from government towards prospective operators “speaks volumes.” Dinn agrees, saying government is allowing applications to be “caught up in red tape and delays.”
