For the first time in the 2 1/2 years since the death of 16-month-old Baby Mac at an unlicensed East Vancouver daycare, the operator of the child care centre, who is both the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation and the target of a civil lawsuit filed by child's parents, has broken her silence.

In her reply to the civil claim filed by Shelley Sheppard in September 2018, Suzy Ahmed Saad, who CTV News previously identified under the name Yasmine Saad, denies all allegations made by the plaintiff and denies claims that she was negligent or in any way responsible for the death of Macallan Wayne Saini, known as Baby Mac.

  • Scroll down or click here to see the daycare operator's response to the civil claim

In Saad’s response filed in B.C. Supreme Court by her lawyer, Joven Narwal, her lawyer writes in part, “the death was a tragedy but not the result of any negligence and at all material times, the Defendant met the requisite standard of care.”

A previous CTV News investigation found that Saad had been investigated by health authorities at least four times at four different addresses, prior to the Kitchener Street location where she operated the Olive Branch Family Daycare where Baby Mac died in January 2017.

Three of those investigations found she had broken the law by having too many children in her care.

Sheppard’s lawsuit contained previously unreleased details about the circumstances of Baby Mac's death, including what his parents understand to be the cause: that the toddler "had been left unattended and had choked on an electrical cord."

In her response, filed on Aug. 13, the daycare operator wrote that those circumstances were “outside the knowledge of the Defendant.”

The lawsuit also names the owners of the home where Olive Branch Daycare was run as defendants, along with Vancouver Coastal Health and B.C.'s Ministry of Children and Family Development.

All have previously responded to the claim and denied responsibility for Baby Mac’s death.

Saad's full response follows. Viewing this on our mobile beta site. Tap here for a compatible version.