Saskatchewan’s ministry of Education has its eye on a Regina grandmother, but she says its threats to take legal action might be the best solution.Lori Aebig is a long-time Sunday school teacher who sometimes made her home and backyard a location for religious instruction and a drop off point for divorced parents to exchange their children or attend a nearby school. She does not charge for such favours..As the Western Standard reported June 25, Aebig was paid a visit by the provincial education ministry over her activities..“I told her I don't run a daycare and she said, okay, well then she was satisfied with the whole [thing.] There wasn't any block parents in the area; I had kids coming. She was finally satisfied with what I had said to her. And she said, well, she was gonna leave it at that. And if I had anybody complain or whatever, then she'd open it up again,” Aebig recalled in a more recent interview with the Western Standard..However, on July 12 around 11:30 a.m., Aebig was paid a follow-up visit by two people from the Education ministry..“They're saying they were doing a follow up. And I said I already talked to the lady. And they said, ‘Oh, you did not.’ And I said,’ Oh, yes, I did,’” Aebig recalled..The two asked to inspect her home for cleanliness, but she refused..“I actually told them they're welcome to go my backyard, but I'm not letting them in the house because I have hot food on the stove and I'm cooking and I don't have time for this,” Aebig said..“They said, well, if you don't let us in and have us inspect and do a follow up, then we don't have any other option but to take legal action.“.Aebig wrote the program manager for child care operations she had previously been in contact with..“I am messaging you to ask you why is this still a problem? I thought I had talk[ed] to you on the phone and you said that everything was fine and that as long as I keep my children at eight limit that everything was fine,” Aebig wrote in an email later shared with the Western Standard..However, the former program manager for child care operations had since shifted to be a “program consultant.” She promised to share Aebig’s messages with the new program director who took over July 4..Aebig said the new program director seemed “nice” and asked her if it would make any difference if she made the visit herself..“I said, ‘No, I don't want anybody coming. I'm not running a daycare. So why would you need to inspect my home? No, no. That's an invasion of privacy.’”.“I said, ‘The girls at the door told me that they were forced to take legal action. You know what, maybe that's what they should just do. Maybe that's all we should just do because I don't run a daycare…You might as well just go and take it to court if you have to.’ And there was silence on the phone,” Aebig recalled..“And I said to them, 'You know what, you guys, if you don't let me have kids in my home to play in the yard or whatever, why don't I just take them to the park and go hang and pitch a tent and go hang out in the park?"."Then, legally, you can't do anything, right? I mean, I'm pitching a tent in the park, just like they pitch a tent in the Victoria Park. They don't let those people take their tents down or whatever. It's kind of ridiculous.’”.In response to the Western Standard’s inquiry in June, a media spokesperson for the ministry replied by email, “Both regulated and unregulated child care operators must also comply with the overall composition of permissible age groups.”.Following this reply that even the unregulated were regulated, the spokesperson, like the former child care manager, is also no longer in her position. Aebig wonders if her visitors’ threats of legal action gained them favour either..“I think I called their bluff. They were kind of scaring me, these other two girls. They probably got in trouble for that.”.The senior media relations consultant for the ministry, who had this position throughout the preceding events, spoke to the Western Standard July 18..“Any time the Ministry of Education receives information that child care services are being provided to more than eight children at one time without a licence for a child care centre or a group family child care home, it is standard practice for the ministry to complete a follow up visit to ensure child care facilities are following through with their plans to abide by The Child Care Act, 2014 and The Child Care Regulations, 2015,” she said..The ministry would not clarify whether Aebig was considered to be in compliance or whether legal action would be taken.
