For Canadian Performers (ontario mostly)

Linda Beaudoin was outside the Napanee courthouse the day Randy Miller pleaded guilty to child pornography charges in April.

The Brampton woman has been there for all his court appearances and will also be there when Miller is sentenced next week.

Her goal is to bring attention to child abuse, said Beaudoin, adding it's especially important in cases where children's entertainers such as clowns or magicians are involved.

Miller was a well-known children's entertainer — a clown — for more than 20 years and worked at private parties, fairs and festivals.

Beaudoin is spearheading a campaign for legislation that will make it mandatory for anyone working as a children's entertainer — Santa, clown or Easter bunny — to be given a criminal-background check and be required to have a licence to make sure he or she is safe to work with children.

“Exotic dancers need a permit; so do massage therapists,” pointed out Beaudoin in an interview. “So why not children's entertainers?”

She has been pushing for this legislation for more than a decade. In November, MPP Vic Dhillon tabled several petitions Beaudoin had collected at Queen's Park.

Beaudoin says she got a reply from Jim Bradley, the minister of community safety, saying that requiring background checks is up to those individuals who hire children's entertainers.

She is not giving up.

“I'm in the process of collecting more petitions and I plan to take them to Queen's Park again.”

The City of Toronto is exploring the issue. Beaudoin took the petitions to the Licensing and Standards Committee a couple of months ago and Anthony Perruzza, Ward 8 councillor and member of the Licensing and Standards Committee, said staff is looking into it.

“We are looking into its implications ... will licensing increase red tape, is it practical,” he said.

Perruzza said staff will have the report back in a month.

Beaudoin's zeal for children's safety is not tough to understand — the Ottawa-born woman says she was abused as a child and left home at 15.

She has worked as a clown and entertained children. That's when it hit her that no one checked her background.

Children's entertainers go into homes and have unlimited access to kids, she said. “And parents automatically trust entertainers even though they know nothing about who really is under the mask or the bright, colourful costume.”

Besides Miller, Beaudoin pointed out that Barrie's Daniel Gyselinck, who played Santa, was also convicted of having child porn last year.

The most horrific known incident involving a children's entertainer was in the U.S. in the 1970s.

John Wayne Gacy, who raped and killed 33 teenage boys and young men between 1972 and 1978, was also known as the “killer clown” because he dressed up as a clown for parades and children's parties.

Andrea Calver, coordinator for Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, understands the concern, but says those who work directly with children, like at daycare centres or seniors' homes, are required to get background checks done.

“The difference between those working at daycares and as children's entertainers is that entertainers wouldn't be left alone with kids. There would be parental supervision,” she said.

Meanwhile, Beaudoin is also taking the matter to Brampton's city council. “My goal is to make kids safe everywhere,” she said. “(It) doesn't matter how much effort I have to make.”

JBM wrote:INtersesting. I think to cover my own a*&* I'd prefer not to be left alone with children. I had to do a working with children check recently and all I did was fill in a form. It didn't instill confidence in me that the people looking after kids are well screened. How do they know what sickos do at home on their computers?