CANMORE – Jodi Burke is upset and it’s easy to see why.
On May 7 she dropped off her 17-month-old son, Lennon, for his first day at an unregistered day-home on Coyote Lane and headed off to work for the day, believing her son was in good hands.
But before the clock struck noon, Burke received a phone call that her son had been picked up by the RCMP and was at the police station.
Shocked and confused, she dropped everything and drove down to the police station and quickly learned that her son had wandered off from the day-home where he was supposed to be supervised.
“He was found on Benchlands Trail in the middle of the road,” said Burke, explaining a pedestrian initially found Lennon before flagging down a bylaw officer.
“It’s completely traumatized me.”
According to RCMP, police received a call from a bylaw officer around 10:45 a.m. that they had found a young child on the road near Benchlands Trails. Police responded to the call and took the child to the Canmore detachment where he was picked up by Burke about 30 minutes later. Police also contacted Children Service’s to inform them of the incident.
“I don’t know how long he was missing for,” said Burke, explaining she got a call from the home-care provider who was with the police around 11:30 a.m.
“She said she got all the other kids in the car and went out to look for him and couldn’t find him. She said she looked inside and outside the house, but basically he was left unsupervised in the back yard and got out.”
Despite being found safe and sound, Burke said it could have had a much different ending.
“Anyone could have picked him up. He could have been abducted. Cougar Creek is right there, he could have drowned. He could have ended up in the bush. She didn’t report him right away because she took time to look for him rather than reporting him because she was scared she’d get into trouble,” said Burke.
A few hours after the incident, the day-home provider called Burke a second time to explain what happened and sent out an email to all other parents to apologize. The day-home provider also told parents that she permanently locked the gate into her backyard.
Burke declined to identify the provider, but said she felt compelled to warn parents about the dangers of leaving their children at an unregistered day-home.
“I’m very angry with her,” said Burke. “The danger she put my child in is unforgiveable, but I also don’t want to ruin her life either. That’s her only income source, but other parents need to know about it.”
According to the Childcare Licensing Act, individuals who care for six or less children are not required to have a provincial license and are considered private babysitters. The government does not regulate or monitor these types of business.
Burke said she knew the day-home was unregulated and doubled down on her warning to parents.
“They may get along with the day-home provider, and they may think they’re great, but what’s really happening is you don’t know after you’ve dropped your child off because there’s no regulations,” said Burke.
Zoe Cooper, a spokesperson for Children’s Services, confirmed it was aware of the incident and urged parents who use unlicensed day-homes to do their due diligence.
“We strongly advise parents who opt for unlicensed care to check references and criminal history, visit the home during operating hours, and ensure operators have up-to-date CPR and first aid training,” wrote Cooper.
The entire ordeal has forced Burke to take time off work because she no longer trusts unregistered day-homes to take care of her son and there aren’t any spaces at accredited facilities like Roundhouse in Canmore.
“I’m so angry that our government and our towns don’t have enough safe and accredited daycares that are safe for children,” said Burke. “He’s at such a vulnerable age; he can’t talk, he can’t understand rules and I have to rely on an unregistered day-home because there’s no other options and there’s a three-year waitlist.”
With a growing waiting list, she questioned the provincial government’s recent decision to subsidize 90 childcare spaces at $25 dollars-a-day at the Roundhouse childcare centre.
“Why can’t we have more spots where I can feel comfortable leaving my son knowing he’s in a safe environment with people that are accredited to do that?” asked Burke.
MLA Cam Westhead said news of her situation was concerning and took time to address the lack of available childcare spaces in the community.
“I’m really thankful that the little boy is OK. It must have been really scary and I can’t imagine what that would have been like,” said Westhead. “When a parent leaves a child in someone else’s care they should feel confident the child is going to receive that same love and attention that they did at home.”
According to Westhead, the $25-a-day pilot project is the second part of the province’s push toward creating universal childcare in Alberta.
He said Roundhouse’s application to the government only requested funding to make 90 spaces more affordable.
“The daycare asked for creating affordable spaces, not additional spaces, and so that’s what we approved,” said Westhead.
In the second phase of the pilot project, he said the province helped created 6,000 affordable childcare spaces, including creating 900 new spaces. None of those spaces were created in Canmore.
“We know that availability is another part of the puzzle,” said Westhead. “The affordability aspect is great, but I’m sure everybody agrees that there are a lack of spaces and that’s the thing we would like to work toward as well.”
