Licensing orders for daycares originally provided to CBC News by the province were heavily redacted. The full text of the documents was only released following a succesful appeal. To view them, click the link to the right of this story. (CBC)If you're thinking of going to a restaurant, you can check the internet for health violations.

If you're buying a car, you can take it to a mechanic.

But how do you know whether the daycare you're selecting for your child is safe?

A CBC I-Team investigation has uncovered some disturbing incidents at Manitoba daycares.

One happened at the Tache Daycare Centre in the town of Lorette, located about 20 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg of in 2006. The investigative team learned of it through provincial government documents gained through access-to-information requests.

During a fire drill, an infant was left unattended inside while the building was evacuated, according to the documents. The staff didn't keep a record of the incident and the child's parents were not informed.

However, three days later, a complaint investigation by a provincial inspector found that the daycare was not keeping proper daily records. They ordered the facility to retrain staff and revise their emergency evacuation procedures.

The daycare now has a new director, a new building and a new evacuation plan.

"I think that if that were a real fire, and that was my child, I would be crushed," said Katrina Suppes, a teacher and a mother of two.

"A fire drill is supposed to be just as serious as a real fire. That's what I teach my kids in and that's how I would want the staff to handle my child."

Suppes's children attend a Winnipeg daycare, where she feels the staff have been trained well. However, she said, reports of incidents such as the one in Tache should be available to parents selecting a daycare for their kids.

Violation information hard to come by

Pat Wege of the Manitoba Child Care Association says the provincial child care system is growing beyond its means, and staff turnover is high. (CBC)But it's not easy for parents, or any member of the public, to find information about prior violations at a daycare.

The information about the Lorette daycare came from licensing orders, which were obtained by the I-Team from government. The orders list violations that are considered serious enough for the centre's licence to be investigated, suspended or, in some cases, for them to be shut down immediately.

Fourteen licensing orders have been issued by provincial inspectors to child-care centres and home daycares in Manitoba since 2004.

Licensing orders are made public at the time of the incident. Parents who have children at the daycare are notified by Child Care Manitoba, and the order must be displayed until all of the violations have been fixed.

However, the investigative team had to wrestle with the province to get the licensing orders. When the documents arrived, the names on the documents had been blacked out. After an appeal, the complete records were released.

Pat Wege, the executive director of the Manitoba Child Care Association, wants the province to be more transparent when it comes to the safety of children.

"The system and programs that are in place for our children don't necessarily get the funding, the respect, the prominence they should," Wege said "If our kids are the most important, then they should have the best of everything that society can give them."

Website will soon list violations

Gord Mackintosh, Manitoba's family services and housing minister, agrees that licensing orders should be made available to the public.

Gord Mackintosh, Manitoba's family services and housing minister, says the government will have a new website listing daycare violations by the end of the year. (CBC)"I think it shows that the department has done a good job in communicating to parents whose children are enrolled in the centre," Mackintosh said, "but when it comes to prospective parents, there should be a better job done. And that's why I think the internet is very valuable."

According to Mackintosh, a new web-based information system should be rolled out by the end of the year. A new website will list previous licensing orders.

But Wege said that staffing is a continuing issue for daycares. While the province has been increasing funding to child care, the system is growing beyond its own means. Daycares often cannot retain qualified, educated staff members, and the high rate of turnover means parents are lucky there have not been more incidents.

"It boils down to the knowledge, skills and abilities of the people who are caring for the children," Wege said. "The program should have procedure in place for notifying the authorities, the parents when an incident happens, as well as a debriefing with other employees," she said.

CBC News is providing website readers a look at the provincial licensing orders the investigative team received. They can be viewed by clicking the link at the top right of this story.

If you have any tips for the CBC News investigative team, call the confidential tip line at 204-788-3744.