Some concerned Moncton parents say they’re still looking for answers after four staff members were fired from a daycare nearly three weeks ago.
Moncton Headstart said the incident was in relation to child guidance, but no details were disclosed about it.
Police are continuing their own investigation, but a privacy lawyer says information doesn’t necessarily need to be disclosed at this point.
“I will continue to speak about this and I will continue to make this a known issue and not let this go silent until we receive information about what happened,” says Lindsay O’Blenis, the mother of a three-year-old boy.
READ MORE: N.B. RCMP now investigating unspecified ‘incident’ at Moncton Headstart
O’Blenis has kept him out of Moncton Headstart since the incident, and says all parents should have known about the incident before media was informed at a press conference May 30.
Chad Peters, a spokesperson for the daycare that provides early family intervention and support services for children, said all impacted parents were notified.
“It makes … me personally just wonder what happened, if an anonymous email hadn’t been sent out to (Moncton Headstart), would they have ever said anything?” O’Blenis questions. “How long has this been going on, unreported? There’s just a million questions and no answers.”
But Lisa Steeves, the mother of five-year-old Kryon, says her son was in the class the incident took place, but she too is left wondering what happened.
“(It’s) very uncomfortable, very untrusting, not wanting my son to be at daycare, would rather have him home,” she says. Her son questions where his former teachers are,” she says.
WATCH: Moncton Headstart fires 4 employees amid investigation into ‘incident’
At the press conference, Peters said the incident took place May 22.
Moncton Headstart, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, and the Department of Social Development all launched investigations.
The matter was referred to Codiac RCMP June 3, says Sgt. Mathieu Roy. He says Mounties are still gathering evidence and carrying out their investigation, so no comments can be made about details of the case or the nature of the incident.
David Fraser, a privacy lawyer for McInnes-Cooper in Halifax, says he’s not looking into the case, but he’s “not surprised” that these public agencies are staying quiet because they don’t comment on cases like this because they’re subject to privacy laws.
“I totally understand the interest of the community and I’m concerned about speculation that might arise because of the lack of information,” he says.
“We really shouldn’t be surprised that these agencies are deciding not to provide details, particularly at this stage.”
Fraser says there’s probably a good chance that not all details will ever be released publicly, because it appears to be a personnel matter.
“Information about an alleged incident would also be information about the four individuals who lost their jobs, and so one would easily be able to piece that together, so it would be a disclosure of personal information.” he said in an interview with Global News. “It’s generally prohibited, unless the disclosure itself is in the public interest.”
“While undoubtedly this story itself is in the public interest, the public has a legitimate interest to understand what’s going on, the test for determining disclosure in the public interest is a different one,” he says.
A spokesperson for Norman Bossé, New Brunswick’s child and youth advocate, said they’re aware of the situation and will let the investigation take its course.
Steeves says the situation seems to be “a little bit better” now that the four teachers have been dismissed, but she’s growing impatient with lack of information.
“Knowing the past incidents does make it uneasy,” she says.
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