Alberta education and child care minister Demetrios Nicolaides says he’s looking into changing how parents are notified about serious incidents in their kids’ care programs.
The province’s official Opposition is calling for changes to the Early Learning and Child Care Act.
The NDP wants the government to notify every parent about serious situations, like physical or sexual abuse, create a public, online portal showing a program’s history and conduct regular reviews of the legislation.
“The status quo is leaving parents in the dark about serious abuse incidents,” said Marlin Schmidt, the NDP MLA for Edmonton-Gold Bar.
The NDP is using Edmonton’s Willowbrae Academy Millcreek as an example.
Last year, an employee was charged after he allegedly sexually assaulted a child at the daycare.
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Alberta’s education ministry said it found out about the allegations in June, but parents said they were not informed until they were sent an email two months later.
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Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won't miss a trending story. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Get Started By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.“82 days passed between the initial report of abuse at our children’s daycare and the point where parents actually understood what had happened. That only came through a town hall that parents pushed for ourselves,” parent Thomas Kyle told Global News in an email.
“The system worked exactly as designed and that’s the problem.”
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Kyle said he was one of five Willowbrae parents who met with Nicolaides last month.
They’re asking for similar changes to what the NDP is suggesting.
“The tone of that meeting was positive and I felt our concerns were taken seriously,” Kyle said.
Story continues below advertisement“These are straightforward changes that would help ensure the next family doesn’t experience what we did.”
“They were looking for some greater parental notification, so I’m happy to look into that,” Nicolaides said of his meeting with Willowbrae parents.
Nicolaides said the province has an online portal where parents can find information on a program’s licences and violations.
He added he’s getting his team to look into what kind of details can be shared with parents.
Right now, he says criminal investigations — like in the Willowbrae situation — make it hard to share information.
“These are precisely the kinds of questions I want to look into. What level of information could we provide without compromising the details of an investigation?” Nicolaides said.
The minister did not provide a timeline for how long a review could take.
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