A B.C. Supreme Court Justice will hear submissions today on whether to shut down a daycare Northern Health alleges has been operating without a license.
Melissa Sweder became the subject of investigation on May 10, when Northern Health received a complaint about children being dropped off and picked up from a 6254 Crown Drive home in the Hart and that children were seen playing in the front yard unsupervised.
According to the Community Care and Assisted Living Act, a license is required for anyone who provides care to three or more persons who are not related by blood or marriage.
In May 2021, Sweder made some initial inquiries about licensing but did not follow through after learning the home's residents would have to go through criminal record checks, the court was told during a brief hearing Tuesday to set a date to hear Northern Health's application seeking a "short order" to shut down the operation. (Sweder's name did not appear in an Citizen online search of criminal offenders).
Attempts by Northern Health to work with Sweder to bring the operation into compliance have been rebuffed as were attempts to get her consent to inspect the premises, the court was told. Sweder also acknowledged that she has been operating without a license and has told officers on "more than one occasion" that she has no intention of obtaining a license or reducing the number of children in her care. She also refused to provide a list of parents.
Armed with a search warrant from a judge, officials were able to conduct an inspection on June 8. As many as a dozen children, some as young as two years old, were seen in the home. Several health hazards were also observed, the court heard: a lack of adequate supervision; an unlatched baby gate at the top of some stairs to a basement; razor blade cartridges in an unlocked drawer; cleaning supplies behind an open door; a bong and metal case storing cannabis; miscellaneous toys and garbage small enough to present a choking hazard; and a front and back yard littered with broken chairs, two metal sharp-end marshmallow roasting sticks and a rhubarb plant identified as hazardous to young children.
The 2017 death of a toddler in an unlicensed daycare in Vancouver was also cited as a reason to move forward with the application.
On Tuesday, Sweder asked for more time to provide a response but was turned down after the court heard that she was told on June 2 that Northern Health would be seeking an injunction and that she should get a lawyer.
Sweder also disputed Northern Health's claim in a petition that four children were seen at the home the day after the search warrant was executed, saying she hosted only two.
