How do you keep your child safe while playing the open country?
For a couple of weeks now, there’s been a spate of accidents, including a death.
There have been reports of children running into the water at the open-air shopping mall, where a toddler was swept into a fountain and killed.
A boy died in a car crash at a Toronto-area toy store, and the police say there are signs the children were being left unattended in the mall parking lot when they fell.
The Ontario government has launched an investigation into how the mall was equipped and operated, as well as its management and maintenance.
As we’ve reported, many open-country areas in Canada are also home to an estimated 40 per cent of the population, and some areas are so heavily populated they have to be guarded by police.
Toronto police said it’s up to the families to decide if they want their children to spend their summer in a mall that’s open to the public.
The Toronto police said they’re not aware of any specific warnings or regulations in place to warn people about the dangers.
But there are some things parents should know: Open-air malls are often crowded, and they are vulnerable to thieves and other criminals who would prefer to prey on the vulnerable.
If you live in Toronto, you should also be aware that there are several areas in the city that are designated as “open” areas, but some of those areas are also notorious for crime.
While you might think that would mean you should be keeping an eye on your kids’ behaviour, that’s not always the case.
Some of the more dangerous areas include the downtown core, the Queen Street mall, and a large swath of the Queen Elizabeth Parkway.
For children, the open area around the mall is often considered an ideal place to go.
“The idea of the open is that there is no expectation that the children are going to be supervised and we know that there have been some instances where they have been left unattending in these malls,” said Cpl.
Jennifer Frantz of the Toronto police.
“We are going after those areas, and if we find any kids were left unattached, we will go after them as well.”
Toronto Police Const.
Jennifer Franklin says police are looking into whether there was an attempt to hide children at the mall.
(CBC News)”We’re aware of the incidents in other cities that have occurred, but we are going in the area, we are not going to go out there and see if they’re still there, because there is a lot of crime that goes on in those areas,” she said.
According to the police, in the past month alone, two more children have died in Canada’s biggest shopping mall.
Two children have been taken to hospital in serious condition, and one child has been taken away from his family by emergency services after falling into a river and drowning.
At the same time, the Toronto Public Health Department says it’s getting more reports of open-area crime, including thefts and drug deals.
They say a recent spate of cases in the Toronto area show “there’s a significant increase in drug dealing.”
“We’ve seen that drug dealing has increased and there’s a spike in the number of robberies, so we’re seeing a surge in drug deals,” said Dr. Marc Dorey, a health and public safety specialist with the Toronto Police Department.
Dorey said while police have not yet made any arrests in any of the recent cases, they’re working with the public to get more information about the nature of the crime and how to protect themselves.
People who have experienced problems with their children playing in an area should keep an eye out for signs that something’s wrong.
To help parents keep their kids safe, police are also encouraging parents to talk to their children about safety.
You can call 311 if you’re concerned.
