Member’s Statement: School Cafeterias Closing – 17 December 2015

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the CBC reported that Chartwells, a subsidiary of UK-based Compass Group will be discontinuing 12 school cafeterias in New Brunswick tomorrow because they are no longer profitable for them. When classes begin in January, students in Plaster Rock, Woodstock, Nackawick, Harvey, Keswick, Centreville, McAdam, Harvey, Fredericton Junction, Cambridge Narrows, Chipman and Barkers Point will be affected. Mr. Speaker this is what happens when we privatize services that should be public such as the delivery of nutritious foods in our schools and hospitals.

Here is the hope: With an appropriate allocation of resources, Anglophone school districts can rehire local people to serve local nutritious food just as has been done in Francophone South.