City council members entered into a fiery debate Monday evening as they argued over the final reading of the council remuneration bylaw.

One of the subjects causing considerable angst was the councillors’ child care allowance.

The proposed rate was set at $16 an hour, which Coun. Michelle Friesen suggested was too low.

She, along with councillors Kirk Cameron and Mellisa Murray, argued that rate was too low and disrespectful to the importance of child care.

Murray proposed the rate be set at $20 per hour per child.

“Minimum wage is not an appropriate rate for child care,” Murray said. “It’s setting ground for being more inclusive for families with young children. This would remove a barrier.”

Friesen said, “This was pretty much exactly what I was thinking of as well." "We have had some discussions about childcare on this council. We have had some discussions about this and I've been getting some outreach from some people in the community and some women's organization on what happened with those discussions..."

“This is a good start, and makes things more accessible for families and young children.”

Friesen was involved in controversy late last year and earlier this year over her bringing her young child to council meetings.

The ruckus resulted in several behind-the-scenes meetings with city staff and council members before it was quietly resolved.

The conclusion of those discussions have not been made public, but Friesen has not resumed bringing her child to council chambers.

Coun. Ted Laking said the discussion on how to better accommodate councillors with young children has been happening for some months now.

“I think this is an incredibly important discussion to have,” he said, “with the cost of living increasing. I think we need to look at ways of increasing inclusivity.”

Deputy mayor Dan Boyd was less enthusiastic.

“This type of discussion would be much better placed at a committee meeting. The change here is huge and is really significant,” he said.

“To bring it in on third reading with no analysis is just plain wrong. This has never been in front of council before.”

Cameron said this has been under discussion for some time, and said “it’s not a big deal in a $100-million operation.

“We under-value just how expensive (child-care is). It’s literally a drop in the bucket,” Cameron said. “We’ve got to do better than this.”

Boyd took exception to the suggestion that council had debated this specific proposal previously.

“It’s never been before council before,” he told Cameron. “I don’t know what meetings you’ve been to or where it was, but this proposal has not been before us.”

Boyd voted against the amendment and the final reading of the remuneration bylaw.