Woman campaigning to have children’s entertainers licensed

Asking a clown or Santa Claus for credentials is no laughing matter for a Brampton woman who’s fighting to ensure children’s entertainers are licensed.

Linda Beaudoin said people who play characters at kids’ birthday parties, events or pose in photographs with youngsters should be subject to criminal-background checks and must have a licence.

Beaudoin, who is a children’s entertainer, said she was surprised she was never asked about her background.

The Brampton woman says rules have to be put in place as kids’ entertainers often have the trust of parents for no good reason.

Napanee, Ont. man Randy Miller, who performed as a clown named “Honker”, was one of several people arrested last December as part of an alleged global child pornography ring.

And Daniel Gyselinck was sentenced to more than three years in jail last year after he was caught with child pornography. He played Santa Claus in the Barrie, Ont. Santa Claus parade.

With files from the Canadian Press.

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