Petition started to keep day home operator behind bars

A Calgary man has started an online petition with the hope of reversing a decision which grants day parole to a woman imprisoned for the death of his little girl.

Ceira McGrath was 18 months old when she was asphyxiated by the strap of a car seat while inside a closet at an unlicensed day home in November 2015.

Elmarie Simons, the home’s operator, pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death and was given three-and-a-half years behind bars, but she’s now been given day parole less than a year after her sentencing.

Ryan McGrath, Ceira’s dad, says he plans to take the petition to the federal justice minister with the goal of seeking changes in the parole system.