First Nations family shaken after Winnipeg toddler left alone in preschool vehicle for over 2 hours
CBC
A First Nations family is shaken after their three-year old son was left alone in a vehicle that was supposed to drop him off at his afternoon early education program last month.
Up until July, toddler Elie Keeper's morning routine started at daycare. His mom, Kristin Hernandez-Courchene, says her son's afternoons were then spent at Little Red Spirit, an early education program for Indigenous children.
The program would pick Elie up from his daycare in Winnipeg's West End, and drive him to the West Broadway community centre where Little Red Spirit is based.
But on June 13, the last day of the program, Hernandez-Courchene said she received a phone call from the program's executive director.
"She said, 'I'm sorry to tell you, he was actually on the bus for over two hours by himself,'" said Hernandez-Courchene. "Bystanders had heard him screaming and crying on the bus and then somebody called 911."
The driver of the minibus did not see Keeper sleeping in the back, and had driven home after the stop at Little Red Spirit, she said.
Hernandez-Courchene rushed to the home, and found police and first responders there.
"I was worried for his safety — he's a small boy who's 30 pounds with asthma," she said.
She was thinking about how there was "no circulation, no air, him screaming and crying for me and his dad [when] we can't be there for him."
"When I went to go pick him up [he said], 'I'm all by myself and my friends are gone. I can't see my mommy and daddy,'" Hernandez-Courchene said. "That just replays in my mind over and over."
She said once her son got home that night he was lethargic and wouldn't eat or drink anything.
The toddler's father, whose name is also Elie Keeper, said his son was a curious and independent toddler before the incident. Now, he doesn't like to be left alone.
"He's calmed down a bit, but ... if we see a white van or a white bus, he goes right into reliving the moment and gets very panicky," Keeper said.
"He's fine at home when it's me and [his mom] around, but if we're gone it's still very much a big thing for him to not have us around."
As their role in health care continues to grow, nurse practitioners across Canada are looking to Alberta, where nurse practitioners recently formed their own union — but on P.E.I., the nurses' union that represents them says it's doing its job.
As the fallout over fallen buildings in Gore Park continues, Hamilton officials will be turning their attention to other properties.
Fire crews responded to a transport truck fire on the Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor and Detroit.
When the government touts that its auto insurance reforms might curb premiums by $400 come 2027, the ministers and premier don't readily mention what's to come in the three years leading up to that.
Who poses the greater threat to the free speech of Conservative MPs — the Speaker of the House of Commons or the leader of the Conservative Party?
As city council prepares to vote on a temporary shelter village for people experiencing homelessness in Thunder Bay, Ont., opposition is growing among the area's business community.
A Toronto centre for Black art is hosting an exhibition this weekend that exclusively features work by artists from across the African diaspora.
Click on the video player above on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. ET to watch the 2024 Vanier Cup.
This story is part of CBC Health's Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here.
Some Canadian seniors say they're feeling abandoned by the Liberal government's latest inflation relief measure after learning they don't qualify for it.
WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.