View cases - Stewart McKelvey

39[178] Complainant’s counsel characterized Ms. Friendly’s evidence as meant to inform theTribunal as to the bona fide difficulties a parent such as the Complainant faces in finding thirdparty childcare, a difficulty shared by anyone in the position of the Complainant having youngchildren and a workplace that requires rotational, fluctuating, and unpredictable shifts. ThisTribunal found that Ms. Friendly’s evidence on these points was reliable.[179] In her testimony, Ms. Friendly emphasized that the single most difficult factor inaccommodating child care is unpredictability. Many factors go into child care decisions butunpredictability of a worker’s schedule makes finding paid third-party provider daycare,regulated or unregulated, in a centre or in a private home, almost impossible.2010 CHRT 20 (CanLII)[180] Next most difficult is the need for extended hours, i.e. outside the standard operating hoursof approximately 7 am to 6 pm on weekdays. Need on weekends and especially overnights makesavailability virtually impossible as well.[181] Further, Ms. Friendly noted that available childcare spaces fluctuate. A provider who iscaring for children in her own home, for example, may not operate such a service once her ownchildren are of school age. However, others may open up that were not previously available.[182] As Ms. Friendly says there is largely no data on unregulated childcare in Canada, herevidence focused more on available regulated childcare which includes childcare centres and careprovided in the care provider’s home under provincial regulation. She testified that regulatedchild care facilities in Canada are very limited, and as a result unregulated care is commonly used.In other words, the need far outweighs the supply.[183] Reliable data on the availability of extended hours childcare in unregulated settings islikewise not readily available, but this Tribunal can accept anecdotal evidence on this issuesupported by Ms. Johnstone’s direct evidence.[184] Ms. Friendly provided some evidence on two major studies done in the 1990s on theavailability of extended hour daycare. The results of these studies, not surprisingly, was that there