Winnipeg Free Press: Licensed to fail

One in three licensed child-care facility in Manitoba is operating on a temporary “provisional” licence, meaning hundreds are failing to meet minimum health, safety and operating standards, a Free Press investigation has found.

Meanwhile, the scope and severity of inspection infractions are hidden behind a wall of regulatory ambiguity, leaving Manitoba parents in the dark about potential risks at their child’s care facility. The issue is buried in bureauracy to the point the province said it would take more than 8,000 hours — or the equivalent of four employees working an entire year — to compile three years’ worth of child-care centre inspection reports.

“Eight-thousand hours? That’s because they have neglected their obligation to parents for so long,” said Arthur Schafer, founding director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics at the University of Manitoba. “Transparency and openness about this data is really important.”

To read the full article, please visit the Winnipeg Free Press.