Dead cockroaches, bug droppings, neglected children; For years, Quebec tolerated an unsanitary Mascouche daycare that was met with complaints and allegations.
“I wouldn’t have sent my dog there, he was so dirty,” testified Marie-Belle Charron, mother of three, who attended Le p’tit monde d’Annanou, an unsubsidized daycare center that could take 72 children, in January 2022 .
Photo provided by the Ministry
Significant dirt was found throughout the facility.
This facility has received 45 complaints from the Ministry of Family Affairs and has been the subject of 52 inspections since 2012. Thanks to the Access to Information Act, our Investigative Office received copies of several of these documents, which revealed worrying situations.
In particular, inspectors observed a “very high accumulation of dirt”, dead ants on the floor, lifeless cockroaches in several places and excrement in a cradle resembling those of rodents.
Photo provided by the Ministry
Dead cockroaches were found in several places in the daycare center.
Issues related to children’s health and safety were also observed.
In 2019, Le p’tit monde d’Anannou deprived a child of a meal and failed to isolate a child who suffered a “serious accident”.
The daycare was ordered to pay an approximately $8,000 fine in connection with these charges, to which it pleaded guilty.
Additionally, in December 2020, a child was allegedly tied to a chair to isolate him, a ministry investigation has concluded.
After all, children were left unattended at least twice in the summer of 2022.
The ministry is slow to respond
Despite these events, it was not until November 2022 that the ministry concluded that the daycare had acted in a way that “the health, safety and welfare of the children were at risk”.
Quebec then announced its intention not to renew the childcare facility’s expiring license, but without revoking it.
In fact, the day-care center was able to accept children for another three months, and this in all legality. The facility only closed its doors on February 17 because the permit had expired. The ministry explained by email that “the daycare center had not submitted the necessary documents” for the extension.
forgiveness
“There shouldn’t be a daycare like this in Quebec, or any other self-respecting society,” says Émilie Tanya Thibaudeau, who worked there for eight months as an educator. She regrets that Quebec has not been more proactive in correcting the situation.
The ministry denies neglecting the safety of the children who took part in Le p’tit monde d’Annanou and claims to have carried out a close follow-up, particularly since autumn 2022, indicates its spokeswoman Esther Chouinard.
She says suspending or revoking a license is an “extraordinary” measure. “The primary objective” is to bring the day-care center in line with the law, and this “to allow the maintenance of places accessible to parents”, emphasizes Ms. Chouinard.
Convinced that he had been the victim of an injustice, the daycare’s owner, Anourak Chang, took steps to reopen his daycare.
CONCERNING SITUATIONS
October 2019
Only five teachers were present to look after 66 children, which would have required 10. Three months later there was only one teacher for 11 children in the kindergarten.
December 2019
The day care center “deprived a child of a meal” and did not isolate a child who suffered a “serious accident”. For these violations, the daycare was fined $7,864.
December 2020
A child was tied to a chair to isolate him, according to the ministry.
November 2021
An inspector notes the presence of “dead ants on the floor” of the kitchen, a piece of furniture repaired with glue, expired medicines and toxic products accessible to children.
June 2022
An inspector notes a “very high accumulation of dirt,” “roach corpses in several places,” and “what looks like rodent droppings,” particularly on the mattress of one of the cots.
Photo provided by the Ministry
We’ve seen what appears to be rodent feces, including on an infant’s mattress.
Department should have acted, says employee
A former teacher at P’tit monde d’Annanou struggles to understand how this daycare has been able to take in children for years without Quebec putting the key under the door.
“It doesn’t make sense that it could stay open for so long. I’m relieved it’s finally closed,” says Émilie Tanya Thibaudeau, who worked there from October 2021 to May 2022.
During the eight months of her work, the trained educator was at the forefront of the almost daily escapades of this day care center in Mascouche. She regrets the unhealthiness that prevailed there and the “incompetence” of the owner and other educators, none of whom she felt were qualified during her visit.
Emily Tanya Thibaudeau
ex-educator
“Her body was there but her head was somewhere else, like on her phone. I’ve seen it many times,” she says.
Terrible kitchen
The soiling of the kitchen, in which the children’s meals are prepared, has had a particular impact on her. An ant plague would have existed there for months, she recalls.
“The fridge was awful. Opening the doors smelled of death. I can’t imagine people ordering food there without cleaning it,” recalls Ms Thibaudeau.
“Abominable” meals
In general, the quality of the food is “disgusting,” she says. So much so that she says she never dared to eat the food served there. Not to mention the lack of variety on the menu and questionable selection of snacks.
“Pasta, do you want it, here it is. Giving sugar cake to an 18-month-old waking up from a nap makes no sense,” she says.
The day-care center owner is to blame, who “came by for short walks from time to time”. “On the management side, it was a big zero,” she regrets.
Ms Thibaudeau herself has repeatedly denounced this day-care center to the Ministry.
“Despite all my complaints, nothing has really changed. The inspectors never took the time to sit down with me to figure out what needed changing. You should have done that,” she laments.
The owner ready for reopening
The owner of the P’tit monde d’Annanou dismisses criticism of his daycare center and is even in the process of reopening it.
” We fight [pour ravoir un permis] ” explains at the end of the line Anourak Chang, owner of the private company Mascouche, which had to close its doors in February.
When asked about the shortcomings of his facility, the owner denies having endangered the health and safety of the children he cares for.
“I think it’s an acceptable daycare. Walk around the day care centers and you will be surprised! he asks.
As for the cleanliness of the premises, Mr. Chang asserts that there were “only two cockroaches” and that the presence of ants in a daycare center is quite normal depending on the time of year.
” [L’inspectrice] Found feces that looked like rodent droppings. […] I’m not saying there aren’t any, rodents, […] but I didn’t get it,” he explains.
Mr Chang, who has never seen fit to call an exterminator, claims to have “applied a product” to try to resolve the situation. “We’re not innocent enough to leave beetles where the kids are,” he says.
Application for Permission
Regarding the food, the owner admits that at one point the food was “not necessarily satisfying”. The situation would have improved last September 2022 with the hiring of a caterer.
Mr. Chang also finds it “unfair” that the license for his daycare center has not been renewed. He attributes the closure to a bureaucratic misunderstanding with officials.
On March 8, he therefore submitted a new application for approval to the ministry. The latter confirms that he is currently analyzing this file, in particular according to the “story of the applicant”. At the end of the analysis, the ministry can either issue a new permit or issue a rejection notice.
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