The
headline on the November 18th government "information
bulletin" read "Panel
Reviewing B.C. Child Protection System Modified".
The public has gotten used to almost daily announcements
of new investigations or changes in formerly announced investigations
regarding B.C.'s child welfare system. The importance of
the latest announcement may have been missed since it came
on a Friday, the day after all MLAs rushed a special Bill
through the House to give themselves big pay raises.
All
members of the panel have been fired except former Conflict
of Interest Commissioner Ted Hughes who will now proceed
as the single panelist, although he may consult with the
others as he prepares his report. It is good news that the
panel has been reduced to one respected member since inclusion
of the Child and Youth Officer and the Chief Coroner put
them in the position of investigating their own work. Jane
Morley wrote the report that government used in its core
review to justify eliminating the Children's Commission
and the Child and Youth Advocate; she was then appointed
Child and Youth Officer. The legislation that established
that position included the transition provisions for dealing
with the investigation of deaths that had not been completed.
It said that the files must be transferred to the
Chief Coroner who may continue the investigations
and who may disclose to the Child and Youth Officer
any records thus transferred. Those provisions make the
first sentence in the concluding paragraph of last Friday's
information bulletin particularly interesting: "This
change is being made in light of recent events concerning
the management of child death reviews." That could
be interpreted as firing some of the panelists because of
their role in "the management of child death reviews".
The
Campbell government should not attempt to scapegoat the
Child and Youth Officer or the Chief Coroner for the bungling
of the investigations into 713 child deaths. It was the
Campbell government that choose to use the permissive "may"
rather than "must" when it wrote transition plans
into the legislation. It was the Campbell government that
established the Child and Youth Office under the excuse
of a core review designed to cut costs and duplication.
It was the Campbell government that cut the budget for the
Chief Coroner and neglected to amended the Coroners Act
so as to give him the authority to do the more comprehensive
child death reviews. As much as some might hope that Morley
and Smith would be advocates and alert the public to the
consequences of the government's cuts, that would be contrary
to the clear policy of the government to put managing budget
cuts above all other priorities. The senior civil servants
cannot be faulted for implementing government policy, and
the Campbell government cannot now hide behind them as the
consequences of its actions become increasingly clear.
About
Me |
Mail Me | Links