Ontario to overhaul child protection laws in response to Katelynn Sampson inquest: source
The proposed legislation would be tabled Thursday afternoon, government source says
The province is moving to overhaul Ontario's child protection laws, with legislation in response to the Katelynn Sampson inquest expected to be tabled at Queen's Park Thursday afternoon.
One of the most dramatic changes would be giving children a say in the decisions made about their welfare, a government source says of the bill. That's what emerged as the main recommendation from a coroner's jury probing how both the child welfare and education systems failed to protect the seven-year-old girl.
Katelynn waskilled by her guardians in August 2008.
NDP child and youth services critic MoniqueTaylor already tabled a private member's bill in November, dubbed Katelynn's Principle, which urged the province to recognize children as individuals. It would have given any child in Ontario's education, child welfare or youth justice systems the right to contribute to decisions about their care.
Katelynn's Principle
The government's bill being introduced Thursday, however, may include additional reforms, the source told CBC Toronto.
Child and Youth Services Minister MichaelCoteauwill make an announcement at Covenant House Toronto tomorrow afternoon after he tables the bill in the Legislature.
KatelynnSampsondied from complications of blunt force trauma, but forensic evidence showed that followed months of beatings and neglect. Her legal guardians, Donna Irving and Irving'sboyfriend Warren Johnson, pleaded guiltyto second-degree murderand were sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years.
The coroner'sinquest into the girl's death studied why institutions andagencieslike the Toronto District School Board andtheChildren's Aid Society of Toronto failed to protectKatelynnfrom abuse. The jury issued 173 recommendations in April.
With files from Mike Crawley
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