EXCERPTS
I have been a home child care provider for 15 years, more than half of them spent as an independent (previously I was affiliated with a licensed agency).
This Citizen article angers me to no end, particularly considering what we, as independent providers, have been dealing with in light of Bill 143. Kathy Rowe is running an illegal home daycare - no matter how wonderful she may be with the children, she is way over the legal numbers. It is irresponsible to fight that or to support her in that fight.
While I am not a fan of Bill 143, I recognize that there are rules that all providers must follow. To highlight this home child care provider as some kind of "victim" is only adding to the fire against the many providers who do follow the rules. If a child had died in her care, everyone would be up in arms about her being illegal. This is exactly the kind of irresponsible, self-absorbed child care provider that we are all being painted as. She knows the rules and chooses not to follow them. Daycares that break the rules should be shut down and fined.
- reprinted from the Ottawa Citizen