More Campbell Mistakes

November 18, 2005

More Campbell Mistakes

"I have already outlined for members opposite that the child-death review process in the province of British Columbia since January, 2003 has been working well. It has, in fact, completed 546 different files. There is no need for the Children's Commission to be reinstated, but we are open to advice from the Hughes review that has already been commissioned by this government in terms of any improvements that might be made to the child-death review process."
Solicitor General John Les, Hansard, November 17, 2005-11-17

How can the Solicitor General say "there is no need for the Children's Commission to be reinstated" when by his own admission his government let the incomplete investigation files for 713 children sit in a Victoria warehouse? At the beginning of question period, in answer to a question from NDP Leader Carole James, Les said:

"First of all, I want to state clearly and categorically: there are no forgotten children. In each of those 713 cases, those files had either been reviewed by the chief coroner in his normal duties as the chief coroner for the province of British Columbia or they had been properly reviewed by a medical professional. What has not been done is that those files have not gone through a second-stage review process as laid out in the child death review scenario. That had not been done. But for the member opposite to suggest that these are forgotten children is absolutely wrong and, in fact, shameful."

What is shameful is a government with incompetence as its best defense; it is more likely guilty of willful neglect. Did no one in government notice that investigations were not being completed? The 2005 fall sitting of the Legislature was not the first time the government was criticized for eliminating the Children's Commission; on previous occasions they assured the House that all was well and nothing was lost in the shift to a new procedure, just as Les did with his claim that since January 2003 the new process has been working well. It works so well that no one is able to verify a thing the government says about 546 completed investigations, only one of which was made public.

When the Campbell government eliminated the Children's Commission and replaced it with the Office for Children and Youth, Section 15 of the enabling legislation provided for the transfer of records as follows:

(b) an investigation under the Children's Commission Act into a child's death that has not been completed may be continued as an investigation by a coroner under the Coroners Act;
(c) if an investigation under the Children's Commission Act into a child's death has been completed but the report of the commissioner has not been released, the report must be delivered to the child and youth officer, who may make the report public;
(d) all records relating to the investigation of a child's death must be transferred to the coroner, who must apply the confidentiality provisions that governed records under the Children's Commission Act in respect of any records originally produced under that Act;
(e) all records under the Children's Commission Act must be transferred to the child and youth officer, who must apply the confidentiality provisions that governed records under the Children's Commission Act in respect of any records originally produced under that Act.
(2) For the purposes of this Act but subject to section 60 of the Coroners Act, the coroner may disclose to the child and youth officer any records transferred to the coroner under subsection (1) (d) of this section.

The public has reason to ask where the Chief Coroner and Child and Youth Officer have been since the law made provision for the transfer of records, and that question can also be asked of the Provincial Health Officer since he was made part of the process through the integration of work done in Vital Statistics. It is shameful, but nothing new, that the Campbell government didn't disclose the consequences of its cuts, but why didn't at least one of three senior public officials blow the whistle? Why did it take until November 14, 2005 before the Chief Coroner revealed that there could be 80 investigations that were halted, only to have that number increased to 713 on November 17th?

The cover-up that has gone so wrong on investigations into child deaths is only the tip of the iceberg. The Campbell government cut dozens of programs without reporting to the public on the expected and now the actual consequences. Income Assistance was drastically cut; initially suspect polls were conducted on what happened to people leaving assistance, but they were so laughable that they were dropped. For lack of government reporting, the public has to turn to the Social Planning and Research Council's annual homeless survey to get any idea of the consequences of welfare cuts. The Campbell government claims that it has a mental health plan and that it has increased funding for mental health, but it refuses to provide any information to substantiate those claims. A freedom of information request for a report titled "Providence Health Care Mental Health Program Psychiatric Assessment Unit Business Case (last revised November 25, 2004)" and other similar reports has resulted in stonewalling; I'm told I might get an answer before Christmas if I'm lucky. It will take courageous civil servants, or more slips of the tongue, for the public to learn anything about the consequences of the government's actions. At least Ted Hughes will examine the mess the Campbell government has made of services for children and families. The Solicitor General may find that the highly respected former Saskatchewan judge, who served as BC's first conflict of interest commissioner, minces no words with his examination of oversight, public reporting and advocacy within BC's child and youth protection system. Similar reviews are needed throughout government services in areas that were damaged in the infamous "core review".