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Day care shut down after 2nd baby left alone [CA-AB]

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Author: 
CBC News
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Article
Publication Date: 
24 Feb 2005
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An Edmonton day care that left an infant locked inside alone in the dark has been ordered shut down after another toddler was found unwatched in a playground.

The Alberta Ministry of Children's Services took the rare step of immediately removing the licence for the Bearspaw Day Care Centre, said Ron Bos, a spokesman for Edmonton Child and Family Services.

A 20-month-old child was left alone in an outdoor playground on Wednesday, Bos told the Canadian Press.

"It was a second incident regarding a lack of supervision and putting a child at imminent risk in the past month, so we felt we had no choice but to issue a stop order and immediately close the day-care centre."

The centre came under public scrutiny on Jan. 27, when a six-month-old boy was locked up alone for about three hours after staff went home for the night.

A provincial probe found the day care didn't have parents sign their children in and out as required under government regulations. It banned the centre from caring for children under 19 months of age.

The second incident surfaced after a man heard the child crying in the yard and took him into the day care, then called child services, who investigated.

The owner of the day care, Bonita Berezanski, declined comment Thursday.

The province has issued stop orders to only two other licensed day cares in the province.
The centre has 14 days to appeal the decision.

In the meantime, Bos said the 36 families who had children in the day care were contacted and given a letter explaining the reasons for the closure.

- reprinted from CBC News

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