NDP demands independent inquiry into B.C. children's ministry

BCNDP critic,DougDonaldson,says the problems within the Ministry of Children and Family Development won't be solved withoutan independent review.

This week, BCSupreme Court JusticePaulWalker, ruled that the Ministry had failed in itsjob to protect children in care from their sexually abusive father.

Walker said the ministry's lack of action allowed the father to continue abusing his children for years.

• B.C. Children's Ministry announces review after scathing child sex abuse ruling
• Ministry abused authority in case of B.C. father sexually abusing his children: judge
• B.C. youth advocate urges probe of mistakes in child abuse case
• Father given unsupervised access to children he molested

Following the judgement's release, Stephanie Cadieux,B.C.'s Minister of Children and Family Development promised a review.

"Given the seriousness of the decision rendered by the judge, we will necessarily undertake a reviewrelating to the nature of the case from a policy and practice perspective, as well as the HR implications.

However what form that review will take requires a plan that should not be rushed, but must not be delayed," Cadieux said.

Too little, too late

Not only is the reviewthreeyears late, the action plan for it should have already been done, Donaldson says.

"I think that it needs to be an independent review. You can't let the Ministryinvestigatethemselves in this particular situation. The terms should have been in place already," he told Stephen Quinn on CBC'sThe Early Edition this morning.

He says that this situationwas a "direct result of the ministry'sactions" and the response has been"wholly inadequate". Donaldson says that kind of accountabilityshould start with the minister.

"This is not an isolated incident.It's a trend."

Donaldson says the amount of reviews for negligence is escalating and hebelievesthat systems shouldalready be in place to deal with these issues.

"Currentlythe government says it's reviewing a case where officials ignored a court order for 18 months to reunite a child with itsgrandmother," he said."That was a case that came down in 2014 and the minister says its being reviewed," he said.

While the ministry has an issue with lack of funding, Donaldsonsays the bigger problem islack of leadership.

"In my view children are our most valuableresource and the priorityshould be there above all else and the government has decided not to make that a priority," Donaldsonsaid.

Need for progressive, evidence-based solutions

Scott Clark is the Executive Director of the Aboriginal Life in Vancouver Enhancement Society, or ALIVE.

For years, he has advocated for majorchanges in the way the province cares for children.

"This particular casecoming on the heels of Paige's reportis telling us there's a pattern there," Clark said in an interview with On the Coast.

• Death of B.C. aboriginal teen Paige blamed on 'brutal and cruel' support services

"We have a ministry that's broken, and we have a minister that's in denial right now."

But Clark said we don't have to look much further than Vancouverto find a working model of child and family services.

The Collective Impact Place-Based Strategytakes a progressive and holistic rather than one-size fits approach to care, Clark said.

"It's bringing together a whole bunch of agencies that actually have the compassion and capacity to see and operate in a different way.

"We have hope. We can't change the world, but we can change our neighbourhood and our communityand build that model that's working."

Tohear the full interview with Scott Clark, listen to the audio labelled:A.L.I.V.E. on Fixing the way the province cares for children.