James

The New Democrat Plan:
Strengthen child protection and
make the Ministry of Children
and Families more accountable
In 2001, Gordon Campbell promised to
“make children the number one priority.”
That he would “stop the endless bureaucratic
restructuring that has drained resources from
children and family services.” And that he
would put “real accountability into the system.”
He has done exactly the opposite. In fact, from
day one, his government’s plan to restructure
the Ministry of Children and Families has been
plagued by administrative chaos, heartless budget
cuts, and public controversy – ultimately
tearing apart the safety net for BC’s most
vulnerable children.
Gordon Campbell cut funding and laid off
hundreds of frontline child protection workers.
And he shut down the Children’s Commission
and the Children’s Advocate, effectively ending
public accountability over how the system cares
for and responds to children it is responsible for.
Even then, Gordon Campbell promised that
everything would be okay – that the BC
Coroner’s Service would take over responsibility
for investigating and reporting on children’s
deaths. But then he promptly cut the coroner’s
service budget, and offered no extra money to
pay for investigating new children’s cases. And
sure enough, two years after the change, not a
single review of child deaths has been completed.
Carole James believes all BC children have the
right to a safe, secure home environment – to a
good start in life. Anything less is unacceptable.
There is currently no way for the public to be
certain of the impact on vulnerable children
resulting from extensive budget cuts which
have not been restored in the most recent
budget.
Former Child and Family Advocate
Joyce Preston
Former Ombudsman
Dulcie McCallum
Former Children’s Commissioner
Cynthia Morton
March 10, 2005
We currently have 9,000 children in care in
the province of British Columbia. Yes, every
once in a while something terrible happens.
Stan Hagen
Minister of Children
and Family Development
March 9, 2005
Independent, open review and oversight has
been effectively eliminated. The government
did create a child and youth officer, ostensibly
as a replacement for the eliminated offices.
But whatever has happened behind the
scenes, the office has offered almost no
meaningful reporting to the public.
Paul Willcocks column
Vancouver Sun
March 26, 2005
It’s time to restore the Office of the Children’s Commissioner – an independent, public
watchdog that ensures children in the care of the Ministry and those who are at risk in our
communities get the help they need. It’s also time to put more resources into the Ministry
of Children and Families, and support the transition of services to regionally-based and
community-based agencies.
BCNDP Platform 2005 23