The Ontario Education Minister tells the licensed nurser suppliers to immediately avoid the use of parking spaces directly adjacent to child care facilities, after a child was killed when a SUV crashed into a nursery north of Toronto.
In a note of the layers obtained by the Canadian press, Paul Calandra, who first proposed the measures several days ago, says that the goal is to “safeguard” children and child care suppliers.
Calandra says that all parking spaces that are adjacent to nursery tickets, playgrounds, windows and exterior walls of the classrooms must be blocked during hours of operation until additional security measures are implemented.
The memorandum suggests that the nursery staff use temporary barriers such as pylons, signage and personnel vehicles to block parking spaces, with the exception of accessible parking.
The instructions occurred after a vehicle crashed last week in a nursery in Richmond Hill, Ontario, leaving a 1/2 -year -old boy dead and wounding six other young children and three adults.
The York Regional Police says that one of the two children who were in a critical condition since then have been discharged from the hospital.
In his letter, Calandra said that child care centers that are already protected by vehicle barriers and those located within private residences can continue using adjacent parking spaces.
Nursery suppliers operating with leased properties must reach their owners to discuss security measures, said Calandra.
“We hope that all licensees do everything possible to implement these security measures immediately,” he wrote.
“If there are other areas of your child care installation that can represent a possible risk, such as located near entrances or roundabouts, use your best judgment to evaluate and determine if additional security measures may be needed.”
He said that the government is working to “identify any vulnerability” that may require permanent solutions, such as installing bollards, placing pots or elevating curbs out of day houses.
Calandra said that nurseries can inform any resistance they face to make the changes, recognizing the challenges that could come with the implementation of the new measures.
“We are actively exploring all the options to make it as easy as possible for licensees to install these barriers,” he said.
“This includes any legislative or regulatory change necessary to eliminate municipal restrictions or owners that currently prevent the installation of protective barriers.”
