Baby Mac tragedy: Sentencing hearing begins for Vancouver daycare operator

Tuesday marked the start of an eight-day sentencing hearing for the operator of an unlicensed East Vancouver daycare where a toddler died in 2017.

The process is expected to be lengthy as 11 witnesses will be testifying over disputed facts.

In April, Susy Yasmine Saad, who ran the Olive Branch Daycare, pleaded guilty to failing to provide necessaries of life to nine children, including a 16-month-old boy named Macallan Saini, also known as Baby Mac.

The names of the other eight children and the witnesses are protected by a publication ban.

The first witnesses were a mother and father whose one-year-old daughter was taken in at Saad’s daycare in March 2010.

They testified that it was difficult finding child care and that they were pleased to find one so close to their home.

The father also told the court they had asked Saad to show them her licence, but she would always have excuses and they never saw one.

He went on to say that he had some concerns with how the daycare operated and it was different to how it was initially sold to them, but was reluctant to address the issues as the family was planning on leaving the country soon and knew their daughter would only be staying there for a short period of time.

They also did not want to go through the struggle of seeking other daycare spaces, he said.

Saad was initially charged with two counts of failing to provide necessaries of life and one count of fraud over $5,000 in connection with the Saini case.

Baby Mac's parents filed a civil suit in 2018 alleging Saad's daycare was overcrowded and that their child was left unattended before choking on an electrical cord.

According to a police report, officers responded to a 911 call at the daycare in January 2017 and found Saad had been caring for five children who were all under the age of 18 months.

Under B.C. law, unlicensed childcare providers are only allowed to care for a maximum of two children, other than their own, with few exceptions.

A previous CTV News investigation uncovered that health inspectors had determined Saad broke the law by having too many children in her care on four separate occasions.

Saad's sentencing hearing is expected to conclude late next week.