Dear Editor:

Re: Are our children up for sale? In My Opinion, Burnaby NOW, Nov. 24, by Lynette McBride.

Let's simmer down and take a look at diversity.

As the part owner of a successful preschool centre in Burnaby, I take issue with Ms. McBride's comments.

I do not own a "for-profit" centre. If you do your research, there is really no such thing relating to a small, privately run child-care centre.

My partner and I opened our preschool more than 20 years ago as a private, rather than board-run, centre primarily because we wanted overall control of the program….

So instead of taking the chance of losing sight of our ideal through the supervision and control of a rotating board of directors, we chose to oversee all aspects of the program ourselves….

If a child-care centre's operator chooses not to be "non-profit," it's usually because they want to put their personal stamp on something great.

Profit does not enter into it. I invite you to visit my centre and find anything at all that should preclude it from receiving government funding.

Please do your homework, Ms. McBride, and don't paint me and my privately owned centre with the same brush as a child-care corporation. We have nothing in common and, to be perfectly honest, I resent the implication.