Yukon education minister has 'high, high expectations' for Hidden Valley action plan

The Yukon's education minister says she has "high, high expectations" when it comes toimplementing an action plan to fix policy failures that led to the government's inadequate handling of a 2019 sexual abuse case at Hidden Valley Elementary School.

In an interview, Jeanie McLean said she was "relieved" to have the plan in front of her and that her department is "doing everything we can to not have the same issues happen as they did in 2019."

The Yukon government publicly released the 23-point plan on Feb. 24, in response to an independent review that found the government should have told parents about an educational assistant who sexually abused a student but, due to shortcomings across multiple departments, never did.

Instead, most parents only learned William Auclair-Bellemare was arrested and later pleaded guilty to one count of sexual interference afterCBCNews reported on a lawsuit filed by the victim in July 2021. Police have since identified two other alleged victims.

McLean told CBCNews that while she thought all of the plan's key actions which include things like creating an agreement between government departments and the RCMP when investigating child abuse were important, the one that stood out the most to her was the creation of a parent advisory committee.

The creation of that committee, per the plan, is supposed to happen in under a month,the shortest timeline of any of the actions.

"I know that there's still a lot of healing that needs to happen," McLean said, adding that she remained "absolutely committed" to working closely with the Hidden Valley school community and getting them to "a place of reclaiming their school."

'Areal wake-up call'

McLean acknowledged that questions about oversight of the plan's implementation is "probably top of mind for a lot of Yukoners," particularly because the education department's Nicole Morgan is one of four deputy ministers on a committee assigned to track progress.

Morgan was deputy minister in 2019. The independent review found that, unlike then-minister Tracy McPhee, Morgan was largely kept in the loop about the sexual abuse case, signing off on briefing notes for the minister as well as meeting with Auclair-Bellemareprior tofiringhim.

McLean emphasized that the review found that no single person was responsible for the government's response, or lack thereof, to the situation.

"I'm working very, very closely with the department around careful management as we go forward and staying absolutely connected to the outcomes, and we have high, high expectations of the implementation of this," she said.

"I can assure you that all that has happened was a real wake-up call for our government."

McLean added that she thought that the Yukon was "definitely on the right path to addressing the systemic issues" in its education system.

"We're at a really, really exciting time in education," she said. "And a difficult one, but an exciting one at the same time."

More than just 'bureaucratic' change needed, Yukon Party says

Yukon Party Leader Currie Dixon, however, told CBCNews that the action plan and McLean's promises weren't enough.

"The bureaucratic change in internal policies are fine and we support them, but it doesn't change the fact that there's been no accountability not a single person has been reprimanded for what happened and that's unacceptable," he said.

"... I think a lot of Yukoners are looking for someone to take responsibility and someone to take accountability, and in our system of government, that is the minister and that is the premier."

Yukon NDPLeader Kate White, meanwhile, said she thought the action plan was "good," but late.

"I think like a lot of people, I'm left wondering, how come these mechanisms weren't in place already?" she said.

"... It's awful that it's taken such a disastrous thing and such a harmful thing to children to make those steps be put in place."

White added that while she would be watching for follow-through from the government on the action plan, she was also waiting for three other reviews or investigations by the Yukon child and youth advocate and Yukon Ombudsman on the territorial government's conduct, andby the RCMP on its criminal investigation to get a full picture of what happened.

Children need to be prioritized, advocate says

Like White, Yukon child and youth advocate Annette King said that while she found the action plan "promising," particularly because of how quickly it was produced, she was critical of what she described as an ongoing lack of support and resolution for Hidden Valley students.

"I just find it shocking that so many people didn't prioritize actions toward supporting abused children in their families," she said.

"... Yes, there are systemic problems, but the system is made up of people who every day have opportunities to do what's right for children, and it's shocking that many people working in all of those different systems didn't do what's right and still aren't fully doing what's right."

As for her own review, which is focusing on safety and supports for children at Hidden Valley, King said she was determined to have it finished before the end of the Yukon Legislative Assembly's spring sitting so it can be tabled sooner rather than later.

"I refuse to let it drag out beyond the school year," she said, "because it is so important that we can close the policy review and move on to the action."