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Port Moody mayor proposes additional childcare at city hall

By Patrick Penner, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

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May 22, 2023

Mayor Meghan Lahti said she believes space could be accommodated at the Port Moody Recreation Complex. Google Earth image.

Childcare space may soon be offered at city hall for municipal employees, and possibly the public.

A motion introduced by Mayor Meghan Lahti on May 9 passed unanimously, prompting staff to start a needs assessment regarding offering a childcare service amenity.

From cursory discussions Lahti had with city staff, she said there “quite likely” is a need, adding she believes space could be added in the Port Moody Recreation Complex.

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“We have an established need for daycare sites within the city and within the Tri-Cities,” Lahti said. “I want to find out exactly what could be accommodated, what the size of a daycare could be created.”

Lahti said the Social Planning and Research Council of B.C. informed the city in 2021 that Port Moody needed to create more than 1,000 spaces in the next 10 years.

Even making a “little dent” in the total would be worth exploring, she said.

“I see the benefits being a win-win both for the community and for our staff, creating a desirable place for people to work and also creating opportunities and available sites and spots for kids within the community,” Lahti said.

Coun. Amy Lubik, who worked on the city’s childcare task force in 2022, described the need for childcare facilities in Port Moody as “dire.”

“Even if it’s not able to be the biggest facility, every little bit helps for those working parents,” Lubik said.

Author

Patrick Penner, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Having spent the first 20 years of his life in Port Moody, Patrick Penner has finally returned as a hometown reporter.

His youth was spent wiping out on snowboards, getting hit in the face with hockey pucks, and frolicking on boats in the Port Moody Arm.

After graduating Heritage Woods Secondary School, Penner wandered around aimlessly for a year before being given an ultimatum by loving, but concerned, parents: “rent or college.”

With that, he was off to the University of Victoria to wander slightly less aimlessly from book, to classroom, to beer, and back.

Penner achieved his undergraduate degree in 2017, majoring in political science and minoring in history.

To absolutely no one’s surprise, translating this newfound education into career opportunities proved somewhat challenging.

After working for a short time as a lowly grunt in various labour jobs, Penner’s fruitless drifting came to an end.

He decided it was time to hit the books again. This time, with focus.

Nine months later, Penner had received a certificate of journalism from Langara College and was awarded the Jeani Read-Michael Mercer Fellowship upon graduation.

When that scholarship led to a front page story in the Vancouver Sun, he knew he had found his calling.

Penner moved to Abbotsford to spend the next three years learning from grizzled reporters and editors at Black Press Media.

Assigned to the Mission Record as the city’s sole reporter, he developed a taste for investigative and civic reporting, eventually being nominated for the 2023 John Collison Investigative Journalism Award.

Unfortunately, dwindling resources and cutbacks in the community media sphere convinced Penner to seek out alternative ways to deliver the news.

When a position opened up at the Tri-Cities Dispatch, he knew it was time to jump ship and sail back home to beautiful Port Moody.