CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. —
In response to a damning report examining the inspection regime of the Island’s childcare spaces, P.E.I.’s minister of early learning says staff have prioritized keeping these spaces open.
On Monday, Jordan Brown said his department will implement the recommendations outlined in a report by the province’s auditor general. But Brown also said inspectors often avoided closing childcare centres, which recorded violations on their inspections.
"Over the course of time we have been working with the sector both to ensure we have a quality program but also to ensure that our operators are not shut down because of any violation," Brown told The Guardian on Monday.
"We weren't saying 'OK, centre, you need to close and wait until we get that inspection.’ We were working with them. The auditor general has encouraged a push away from that."
In her report, auditor general Jane MacAdam found that 35 per cent of licensed childcare centres had not been inspected in over a year. Fire inspection documentation and staff screening documents, including criminal record checks, were not obtained in 30 per cent of the license approvals examined in the report.
The report also noted that the province’s early learning and childcare board had not defined which inspection violations would result in an unsatisfactory inspection result. Policies on required follow-up action related to inspection violations were also not developed, the report said.
But on Monday, Brown said inspections of childcare centres on the Island are now “100 per cent up to date”.
However, he also acknowledged that, although he appointed the early learning and childcare board, he did not personally review the inspection policies or practices developed by this board.
"We have staff that are working on that program. We are going to follow the recommendations that are in the report," Brown said.
Progressive Conservative MLA Sidney MacEwen said he has heard from childcare centre administrators that maintaining compliance with the requirements of provincial legislation is onerous.
"One of the concerns I have is the burden this might put on early childhood centres,” MacEwen said.
“They've got so many extra tasks aside from teaching our kids,"
After the province implemented the Early Learning and Childcare Act in January of 2017, childcare operators had to overcome a learning curve.
"Just to get licensed and changed-over, they had to shift the rooms around to make sure they were up to fire code," MacEwen said.
In a media statement, Green Leader Peter Bevan-Baker blasted the province for its inspection regime.
“Early learning and childcare centres serve some of our most vulnerable Islanders,” Bevan-Baker said.
“It is distressing that government would treat the safety of our children with such laxity by failing to enforce basic safety measures.”
