Yellowknife day home operator hopes to 'move on' with life after investigation shuts down business for months

Temptation Murefu has spent eight and a half months, and thousands of dollars fighting to keep her Yellowknife day home's licence.

Now she's trying to move on with her life.

"It was a hard process," she said.

The N.W.T.'s department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE) suspended the licence for Tempie's Day Home last September following a complaint.

Murefu filed an appeal, which took months to resolve.

She's only been able to care for four children instead of eight since October, adding a significant financial burden on the family.

"When someone is closing down, this is what they are feeding their families with," said Murefu.

Murefu says she feels the investigation process did not give her the opportunity to address the complaints against her.

The investigation was ultimately resolved. Murefu says she can't discuss the details of the resolution and neither the department nor the minister responsible will offer information.

Suspension then revocation

Murefu first opened her day home in 2017.

On Sept. 16, 2022, she received a letter from ECE saying the department had received a complaint. It said the department would be investigating, and as a result she had to cease operations immediately and call parents to ask them to pick up their children as soon as possible.

"For sure, I was panicking," recalled Murefu.

Murefu says ECE representatives visited her as part of the investigation, but says she was not given specifics of the complaint against her until later in the process.

Briony Grabke, a spokesperson for ECE, says how much information is shared with an operator related to a complaint is "specific to each situation."

"ECE works to ensure that the operator has as much information as they need to respond to the complaint while balancing the privacy interests of the person making the complaint," said Grabke.

On Oct. 19, Murefu received a second letter informing her that the department had revoked her licence, this time listing six regulations she allegedly contravened, ranging from issues around confidentiality and serious-occurrence reporting, to not providing "appropriate" programming, and issues with child supervision.

Without a licence, Murefu was forced to give up four of the six kids she had in her care besides her own. Unlicensed day homes in the territory are limited to four spots.

'I was not going to give up'

The letter informing Murefu of her licence being revoked said she could appeal the decision.

She said at the time she felt she had "no other option except to do the appeal … That's how I'm going to go back to my normal operations."

According to the Child Day Care Act, appeals kick off a process where the minister must designate a person or group "without delay" to hear the appeal.

That process took months and included two pre-hearings.

In that time, Murefu spent more than $15,000 in lawyer fees.

She says she and her husband "worked together through thick and thin."

"It was not easy because the money for kids was not even enough to split to the bills and the lawyer," she said.

"The eight and a half months I took, struggling to pay the lawyer and to fight my case, I was not going to give up."

Grabke said some issues can be addressed in a few days, while others may take longer if they're more complex.

"There isn't a typical length for investigations because there are varying levels of involvement and solutions can take differing amounts of time to implement," she said.

But what those solutions are in this case remain unclear.

In May, Murefu and ECE signed an agreement to settle the case, but that agreement prevents both parties from discussing details.

CBC News asked ECE what led to the resolution.

"Under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (ATIPP), the GNWT is unable to comment, release or disclose specific details related to program closures or investigations of licensed operators," wrote Grabke.

She gave the same response when asked if the investigation and resolution would appear on Tempie's profile on ECE's directory of licensed child care providers in the territory.

ECE Minister R.J. Simpson declined an interview.

A spokesperson for the minister said he would be "an inappropriate party to comment on operational matters, or on individual cases."

They also said the territory's director of child day care services has the authority on licensing, inspections and investigations.

CBC News asked the department multiple times how many investigations it conducts in an average year.

ECE refused to give a number, saying the small population of the N.W.T. and number of child care providers could allow people to identify who was investigated.

Parents 'shocked'

Colleen Wellborn said she was "shocked" when she heard about the investigation into Tempie's Day Home.

She and her husband had two children who previously attended the day home. When their son was born last July, they were already planning to send him to Tempie's. Wellborn says she contacted Murefu last fall and was told that she was under investigation.

At Murefu's request, Wellborn says she and her husband wrote a "detailed" letter of support and were willing to be a witness as part of the hearing.

But, Wellborn never heard from ECE.

"We would have been more than happy to discuss any concerns that were brought up and try to alleviate those concerns, at least from our perspective," she said.

Colleen Wellborn said that after the day home she was planning to use had its license suspended, she reached out to around 35 child-care providers in the city. Most wouldn't even add her to their waitlist. 'We have no hope. We have zero hope,' she said. (Submitted by Colleen Wellborn)

Wellborn hoped the process would be wrapped up by April when she needed to return to work from her parental leave.

When that didn't happen, Wellborn says she and her husband had "serious conversations" about finding child care, including changing their work schedules to accommodate taking care of their baby.

She ultimately delayed her return to work by two months; by then they had found child care through her husband's employer.

The revocation of Murefu's licence came amid an ongoing shortage of child care in Yellowknife.

Grabke said ECE makes decisions on licence suspensions or revocations "with rigorous regard for administrative fairness, recognizing that any decisions impact an operator's ability to earn a livelihood and may leave families without child care."

She added that the territory continues to work to create more child care spaces.

Wellborn says many parents share their experiences when assessing child care and there's a chance the investigation — without clear results — harmed the day home's reputation.

But she said based on her previous experiences with Murefu, she would have no concerns returning to her as a child care provider.

"Numerous people were impacted by this day home not being able to operate and no one has any answers as to why, and I think that's unfair to everyone," said Wellborn.

Murefu says she's taking the experience as a learning opportunity to be more diligent in her work.

"I accept it and move on with my life," she said.

Murefu can't say what steps she has to take to have her licence reinstated, but says she already has all of her spots filled and hopes to fully reopen in August.