Sheldon Kennedy says sharing information critical to child protection

Former NHL hockey player turned child advocate Sheldon Kennedy says organizations need to be better able to shareinformation to protect children from abuse.

"It doesn't make sense to not share the information when we know that each one of the agencies in 98 per cent of the cases all have a piece of it,"Kennedy said at the Saskatchewan legislature Monday.

"It's about understanding and looking at the whole picture so we can make an informed decision on the best interests of that childand family."

Manitoba introduced legislation last week to allow child and family services, police and schools to better share information whenit's in the best interests of the child and Alberta already has asimilar law.

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Saskatchewan is reviewing what other provinces are doing as itconsiders taking action.

"More information that gets shared between agencies, the betterwe're able to protect children," said Justice MinisterGordWyantafter meeting with Kennedy.

Wyantsaid he intends to talk about changes with Saskatchewan'sprivacy commissioner this week.

Kennedy said kids that have been abused are 26 times more likely to experience youth homelessness and have a 30 per cent higher riskof dropping out of high school.

Most people in treatment centres have disclosed early childhoodabuse.

"We can't fiscally afford not to shift the way we do thiswork," he said.

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Kennedy revealed 20 years ago that he was abused by Graham James,his coach with the Western Hockey League's Swift Current Broncos.

Hethen went on to battle alcohol and drug problems as he struggled tocome to terms with what had happened.

He said there still are gaps when it comes to background checksand abuse awareness training and points to the case of RyanChamberlin, who was a hockey coach inCabri, near Swift Current.

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Chamberlinpleaded guilty to sexual assault charges last yearafter young boys came forward saying they had been abused.

The mother of one boy said she assumedChamberlinhad gonethrough a criminal record check when she met him at a hockey camp inSwift Current.

That would have revealed his prior conviction forassaulting a very young boy in British Columbia, she said.

Kennedy has launched a program for community organizations thatrequires criminal background checks for adults working with childrenand training on how to prevent bullying and abuse.

"To me background checks are a piece of it," he said."Prevention, education, empowering the bystander, focusing onthe good apples, polishing the good apples with knowledge andcreating confidence for conversation to happen, I believe is ourbest defence."