Alberta shut down 21 day homes in two years due to 'imminent threats' to children: provincial data
Alberta shut down 21 day homes in two years due to 'imminent threats' to children: provincial data
Child safety advocates are urging the province to take a more proactive approach to protecting children at unregulated day homes in Alberta and want to see province-wide rules in place, similar to regulations enacted recently by the City of Calgary.
As of the start of this year, home-based child care operators in Calgary need to apply for a business license and are required to have first aid and CPR training, along with a police background check, to do so.
"I think we have an opportunity (at a provincial level) and we've seen Calgary take those steps," said Shelby Stewart, the co-founder of the safety advocacy group Mackenzy's Legacy. The group was established in memory of Mackenzy Woolfsmith, a 22-month-old girl who died from injuries she sustained at an unlicensed day home in 2012.
"What we have been told from the province previously is that we're not going to create any more red tape. And when it comes to child safety, I don't think it is red tape — I think it needs to be a priority," Stewart said.
According to provincial data collected since February 2021, obtained by Mackenzy's Legacy through a Freedom of Information request, Alberta day home operators have been issued a total of 91 stop orders, which are written orders to "cease offering or providing child care."
Twenty-one of those issued were due to an 'imminent threat,' described in the province's Early Learning and Child Care Act as a "threat to the health, safety or welfare of the children to whom the person is offering or providing child care." The rest of the orders were due to operators exceeding capacity.
"It makes me feel sick inside," said Stewart. She says the province's current complaint-based system is not the right approach.
"It devastates me to see that amount of stop orders. I think it's excellent that the province put this tool in place but, again, we are reacting when we've deemed that children are in imminent harm," she said.
Shelby Stewart is co-founder of a safety group that was formed in the wake of the death of Mackenzy Woolfsmith, a Calgary toddler who died from injuries she sustained in a day home.
Alberta's children's service minister said Tuesday that the stop orders show that the system is working and the provincial government encourages parental choice when it comes to child care.
"I have been in close contact with the City of Calgary and with Mayor Gondek and I am working together closely with her department and officials to monitor the progress of that initial pilot program," Mickey Amery said when asked if the province will enact province-wide day home rules.
"We're looking at how it works out," the minister added.
Calgary councillors will discuss sending a letter to the province to advocate for Alberta-wide rules for unregulated day homes at a meeting in February.
Cape Breton University has more than doubled in size by enrolling thousands of international students, and critics say the campus and community weren't ready. Watch the documentary 'Cash Cow' on CTV W5, Saturday at 7 p.m.
In a choice forced upon them by the Canadian government, four mothers have made the agonizing decision to forfeit an opportunity to repatriate their children from open air prisons in northeast Syria.
Statistics Canada has released its new report about the Canadians level of confidence in Canada’s institutions, finding that recent immigrants are more likely to express confidence in the media and parliament.
A new Canadian study of 4.8 million people says a daily alcoholic drink isn't likely to send anyone to an early grave, nor will it offer any of the health benefits touted by previous studies, even if it is organic red wine.
Lawyers representing Toronto MP Han Dong served Global News with a libel notice on Friday over reports that alleged he spoke to a Chinese diplomat in February 2021 about delaying the release of the two Michaels, and that he was a 'witting affiliate' of Chinese interference networks – allegations that Dong denies.
A recent report from Royal LePage is predicting a drop in prices for Canadian cabins and cottages this year as demand softens from economic uncertainty and low housing stock.
Interim RCMP commissioner Michael Duheme says he would support the Criminal Code changes recommended in the Mass Casualty Commission report to implement stricter gun laws.
B.C.'s securities regulator has permanently banned a Vancouver lawyer from the financial markets after he was convicted in a U.S. court for his role in a US$34-million fraud.
After the RCMP commissioner admitted he didn't read the Mass Casualty Commission’s final recommendations, family members of those killed in the April 2020 tragedy say they have doubts the force will change.
A doctor named in a lawsuit after a Nova Scotia woman died in hospital following a long wait to see a physician has denied allegations from the family that he failed in his duties.
A Vancouver Island woman managed to capture something on video last Sunday that experts say is extremely rare. Maxine Gillette calls it a once in a lifetime experience.
A Vancouver Island musician and former church pastor will serve three months of house arrest, followed by 18 months of probation, after he was convicted of one count of sexual assault.
In one day, Ontario midwife Manavi Handa saw three patients who will have to pay thousands of dollars to be able to schedule a C-section beginning on Sunday.
Akwesasne Mohawk Police say they are working with Immigration Canada and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to confirm the identities of the eight migrants whose bodies were pulled from the St. Lawrence River this week.
Montreal's seasonal parking restrictions go into effect Saturday. As of April 1, parking will be limited during certain hours to make way for street cleaning and maintenance operations. Drivers should pay close attention to street signs to determine when and where it's safe to park.
Police say the bodies of eight migrants have been retrieved from the waters off the Mohawk Territory of Akwesasne, straddling the Canada - U.S. border. The people whose bodies were recovered Thursday and Friday consisted of two families of Romanian and Indian origins who were likely trying to enter the U.S. illegally, police said Friday.
In an attempt to take pressure off hospital emergency rooms, the Saskatchewan government will offer a bump in pay for family doctors who work later hours.
Kevin Garinger says it feels like the passage of time is inexplicable. The five years since a deadly bus crash changed his city, his hockey team and his life sometimes feel like a lifetime. Other times it feels like yesterday.
A northern Ontario man has been banned from licenced hunting and fined $5,000 after pleading guilty to having more than six times the legal limit of grouse and obstructing conservation officers.
Ontario's guns and gangs team says with the help of police in Sudbury and Durham, it has disrupted a large drug trafficking operation, seizing 2.7 kilograms of cocaine and arresting six.
The sale has started of former Saskatchewan government liquor store buildings. The province got out of liquor retailing earlier this month and is disposing of all assets.
In an attempt to take pressure off hospital emergency rooms, the Saskatchewan government will offer a bump in pay for family doctors who work later hours.
Shelby Stewart is co-founder of a safety group that was formed in the wake of the death of Mackenzy Woolfsmith, a Calgary toddler who died from injuries she sustained in a day home.
