The province’s education minister is proposing new safety protocols for daycares in the wake of the听crash at a Richmond Hill child care centre听that killed a one-and-a-half year-old boy and injured nine others.
听the minister and Markham-Stouffville MPP Paul Calandra advised child care operators should get rid of parking spaces that are “immediately adjacent to entryways, windows and exterior walls of classrooms or playgrounds at child care facilities,鈥 though accessible spaces would be excluded from those changes.听
The move comes after an SUV rammed through a large glass window听, near Yonge Street and Nottingham Drive, Wednesday afternoon. A toddler was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead, while two other children remained in critical condition as of Thursday afternoon, according to York police. Four more children and three adult staff members were also taken to hospital for non-life threatening injuries.听
A 70-year-old driver from Richmond Hill was arrested at First Roots Early Education Academy and
Vinay Kumar Gupta, 70, was arrested at the daycare and has been charged with a count of dangerous operation causing death and two counts of dangerous operation causing bodily harm.
In the wake of the crash, police described the incident as 鈥渘ot a deliberate act.鈥
Calandra also announced that he is ordering inspections to 鈥渋dentify any vulnerabilities鈥 at child care facilities across Ontario.听
“Our government will make any necessary legislative or regulatory amendments to municipal or landlord restrictions that currently prevent the installation of protective barriers such as bollards, planters, elevated curbs, and other physical infrastructure to protect children and workers in these settings,鈥 Calandra wrote.
The boy, one-and-a-half years old, was pronounced dead in hospital after the 3 p.m. crash
The minister said the policy changes will apply to all child care centres in the province other than those running in private homes, adding that the directives will be implemented immediately.听
Concerned parents and residents quickly flooded social media following the crash, engaging in conversations over the lack of bollards and other safety barriers separating the daycare property from the parking lot.听
Carolyn Ferns, the policy co-ordinator for the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, said providers have already been thinking about how to make sure something like this doesn鈥檛 happen again.
She says she was glad to see the province react quickly, but any new requirements should come with financial support, is cautioning against a 鈥渂lanket鈥 solution given the diversity of programs in the province.
Multiple with hundreds of signatures have been launched听urging politicians and child care centres to听implement better safety measures.听
Vaughan听resident Lauren Haensel, whose children don’t attend First Roots, set up one of the petitions following the crash, calling for听increasing curb heights to prevent听vehicles from driving over them, government funding for child care facility听safety assessments, installing physical safeguards near daycares such as bollards, and a mandatory requirement for听individuals reaching retirement age to retake their driving tests regularly,听especially听as electric vehicles become more prominent.
Haensel previously lived in Richmond Hill between 2007 and 2017, and is familiar with the neighbourhood where the crash happened.听
“These accidents are not just driver mistakes. They are preventable tragedies that can be mitigated through stronger regulations, smarter vehicle design, and safer infrastructure. Our children deserve spaces where parents can feel truly safe leaving them,” the petition stated.听听
As a parent to a toddler, Haensel said she has heard of听similar upsetting crashes听involving drivers and children,听and the incidents were stuck in her mind when she was researching which daycare to send her own son to.听
While Haensel said protecting children is a priority, she understands installing barricades at daycares could be financially burdening for daycare owners and landlords, and urges the government to provide assistance.听
“It’s forcing people to choose between money and safety. I think that is just wrong in principle and safety needs to come first. The decision shouldn’t be pushed out to us regular people,” she said.听
“This isn’t just the story about some other family’s tragedy. It could happen to any of us.”听
Please see my statement below regarding the tragic events in Richmond Hill yesterday:
鈥 Paul Calandra (@PaulCalandra)
Shauna Brail, urban planner and associate professor and director at the University of Toronto’s Institute for Management and Innovation, called the incident “tragic” but couldn’t comment on how the absence of bollards may have lessened the severity of the crash.听
“Sometimes things seem obvious only after a very devastating event, and it鈥檚 unfortunately really difficult (and probably impractical) to envision and plan for a city that takes into consideration every possible catastrophe,” Brail wrote in an email statement Thursday before Calandra’s announcement.
With files from the Canadian Press听
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