Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 75 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

A LETTER FROM A HURTING PARENT
Zabeth and I correspond frequently. She will play a musical concert this coming Sunday evening to raise funds for legal expenses. The court dates are set for January 12-15 2010, so her emotional generator is pumping hard. They have such little time with their children each week. This sordid mess has gone on for over two years. I want you to read some of the letter Zabeth wrote to me yesterday, when I asked her how they were doing and how I could pray for them.

"Thank you for asking as to our welfare and direction for prayer. Even though our Christmas was directed at helping others yes, it was hard to get through as we watched families out shopping and passed homes decorated for celebrating with their loved ones. Now we are looking to the future. Paul looks ahead confidently, with hope and trust in our Lord, believing that His will is the return of the family He has given us, but nevertheless God's will be done. I look ahead with mixed feelings - following in the path my husband has laid out but knowing that I must take the same path of trust and faith in our Lord Jesus."

"Yesterday when we had to put our children back in the drivers van to take them away our son K. pulled Daddy to the back of the van and whispered. "Daddy do I have to go in her van again. When can I come home?" Daddy told him that it would be soon. In the van as I hugged them goodbye I said in three more sleeps we will see you again. He kicked his feet and said yeah in three sleeps I can come home. Sadly I told him no, we would only be visiting, but we see the king (judge) in I think sixteen sleeps and we are asking him to have you come home. Our children are praying too."

"It is hard to write of the court day and how our lives hang on this without crying. No one can understand the pain of having your children ripped from your arms and then to have your heart torn to shreds daily. To have social workers lie about you and to be accused of something so repulsive is utterly humiliating. Wherever we go we are faced with the assumption of guilty until proven innocent. We love children and absolutely adore ours. It is hard to be branded a child abuser when you are innocent. Pray that one day this "brand" is removed and we can be the parents we want to be."

If you care to attend Sunday's Concert, then due to limited seating we ask you to indicate your intention to come by calling 778-228-4717 to reserve your place or send an email reservation request to sendthechildrenhome@gmail.com

Concert at 6:30 PM at Richmond Peace Mennonite Church, 11571 Daniels Road, Richmond, BC

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 74 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

I WISH THIS WAS ONLY FICTION

I wouldn't call it a thriller but Paul and Zabeth Bayne have been living a nightmare for two years that could easily pass as a dramatic novel manuscript. The problem is that this is not fiction but real life, and the life of the Bayne family needs a happy ending unless this is a Stephen King product.

I am calling this story, A STATE OF EMERGENCY

WHAT AN INCREDIBLE PLOT
Here is the plot line. Picture two small boys, two and four years of age playing in their family home. Their baby sister is lying quietly and contentedly on a blanket placed in the living room floor. The children's father prepares a family dinner. Their mother leaves the living room momentarily to express milk for her infant daughter. Upon returning to the room fifteen minutes later she sees one of her sons running through a doorway and stumbling and falling upon the infant girl. The initial concern dissipates as the baby stops crying and settles down. Later however, the mother and father become concerned about the baby girl's behaviour. They take their child for examination in several local hospitals and these prove inconclusive. Unsatisfied, they at last take their daughter to a city Children's hospital. There, a physician renders a Shaken Baby diagnosis. The parents are immediately suspected. Child Protection personnel come to the family home and take the children away. The parents are subsequently arrested for aggravated assault on their own child, separately interrogated. The mom is traumatized by these events and is briefly hospitalized until she is stabilized. Then they learn that the police have determined there is insufficient evidence to proceed with charges. The charges are dropped and their case record expunged. In fact the police issue an apology to the parents for wrongfully taking fingerprints and photos and then they wish the Baynes the best of luck. The government's Child Protection agency nonetheless refuses to believe the parents' version of what happened. The agency is convinced that this was non accidental and therefore the parents are under suspicion and considered a potential risk to their children. Months pass as the parents try to assert their character credibility and to retrieve their children but all their efforts are unsuccessful and in the process their legal expenses require them to forfeit their new family home and to sell the mother's grand piano which is her livelihood as a teacher and concert pianist. During all of this time, the young parents are living with the young woman’s parents because it shortens the distance of their weekly visitations to the children and it provides some mutual moral reinforcement. The boys are permitted by Child Protection to live with the parents in the supervised arrangement of their maternal grandparents’ home. They are still without their tiny daughter.

The Bayne’s tortuous story gains public attention and television journalists clamour for their narrative. They agree to a televised interview which is recorded for later showing. Between the day of the recording and the date of the airing of the segment, a mediation arrangement is introduced by the Child Protection agency by which the parents are promised that the two boys may live with the parents wherever they choose to live. This is permanent and it is wonderful news. Then the TV segment airs. Without announcing their arrival, the Ministry people accompanied by police, interrupt the birthday of one of the small boys in the Grandparents’ home. They seize the Bayne boys amid the screams and cries of children and adults and once again have custody of all three. The Ministry justifies this action on the basis that the parents contravened the agreement that curtailed media contact. Little attention is paid to the fact that the interview was agreed to and videoed days before the Baynes learned that they could have full custody of their boys again.

This is a devastating occurrence for the family and for their friends. The parents are known and respected by a vast friendship network that write countless letters of appeal to the Government and for many months scores of people stand in front of elected officials' constituency offices holding placards of protest and appeal. After some time even the Ministry's lawyer says there is no ground for holding the boys and advises the Ministry to return the sons. The Ministry disregards the advice. The Ministry will put these children up for adoption and is moving this case to court, but again slowly, very slowly. The Baynes are unable to afford any more lawyers. Then remarkably the Baynes are met by a high profile Canadian lawyer who expresses willingness to represent them. It is now over two years that the Ministry in the Baynes contend is a violation of the Ministry's own governing ACT and allegedly without an updated court authorization beyond the initial order has held three children from their parents.

That is not the end of the story. It is still being written. You have only finished half of this narrative subtitled, “The Bayne Campaign for Justice.” This tale could go in several different directions. You are going to help to write the conclusion.

Today, please go to the petition page to sign for them, and send this link to your friends.

And if you wish to attend a piano concert this Sunday Jan 3 2010 in Richmond BC., in which Zabeth will be playing, and funds will go into a trust to allay legal expenses, you must reserve you free admission seat by calling 778-228-4717 or sending an email reservation request to sendthechildrenhome@gmail.com

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 73 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

“For Love and for Justice”

This coming Sunday will be a special day for a select group of 300 or so people which is the maximum seating in a venue in which a musical concert will be played and heard this evening. These guests have all reserved a seat for the evening. Three musicians at this concert will provide us with a musical treat. Two are concert pianists and one is an accomplished flutist. Those of us who attend have not had to pay an admission price. The expectation with which we are going is that our donations will be welcomed. We are convinced that this is for a good purpose and the title for the evening concert reflects this conviction.

For the love of a family, for the love of two parents, and the love for three children we come together to make contributions to a trust fund to finance the legal expense that the Bayne family must pay in order to restore their identity as a family. We are hoping that the Bayne Family story will be finished in January when a Judge issues custody rights to Paul and Zabeth after two years of separation.

“For Love and for Justice”
A piano duo Fund-Raising Concert
The Bayne family’s unfinished story
You are cordially invited to attend the
“For Love and for Justice” Fund-Raising Concert
At Richmond Peace Mennonite Church
11571 Daniels Road, Richmond, BC
January 3, 2009
6:30 pm to 8:00 pm

One of the pianists is Zabeth Bayne, mother of Kent, Baden and Bethany. She is joined by a friend, internationally known pianist DIETMAR SCHMUECKER, and flutist CRYSTAL YANG. Mr. Schmeuker has performed publicly in Germany, England, Australia, the United States and Canada. Since settling in the Vancouver area in 1986, Dietmar has been widely active as a performer in recitals, programs of chamber music and with local orchestras, as well as an accompanist, teacher, and church musician. Ms. Yang holds a Bachelor of Music degree with distinction in Flute Performance from the University of Victoria. Crystal has performed widely in recitals and chamber music groups and has won numerous awards including BC representation at the National Music Festival competition in 2008. Zabeth studied with such instructors as Dietmar Schmeuker, Walter Bresch, the late composer of many of the two piano selections to be heard today and Alice Enns, professor at UBC. She received her ARCT. Zabeth has taught piano for over eighteen years, been active as an accompanist in church performances, school productions and competitions and performed solo, duo and in chamber groups.

If you care to attend, then due to limited seating we ask you to indicate your intention to come by calling 778-228-4717 to reserve your place or send an email reservation request to sendthechildrenhome@gmail.com

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 72 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

The Bayne Case was featured in an online Vancouver Sun article on Sunday.

In yesterday's blog post I wrote, "In hanging on to this case, a local MCFD division has dug a mudhole so deep that the entire Ministry countenance is going to be covered with it. The media will have a field day. If MCFD has been seeking to follow through on Hughes recommendations, these efforts may be lost in the shadow of the mess this case will create."

Well guess what! The Vancouver Sun carried an article yesterday written by Raphael Alexander, entitled 'A Family In Need Of Reunification.' I urge you to read Mr. Alexander's well written material and trace the links that the online copy provides to the Bayne Campaign for Justice Facebook site, the Petition site, and this GPS blog site and the approaching Fund Raising Concert.

He has done the Baynes a service by objectively disclosing the facts that are already known that warrant the restoration of this family unit. It is the only conclusion to which fair minded people must come after two years and two months of family dismemberment.

It is unfortunate that well intentioned purposes like protecting children and developing families can result in a bureaucratic tangle of reports, misunderstandings, disagreements, legalities, tensions, conflicts and antagonisms.

Adrian MacNair is a Vancouver writer who sometimes writes under his middle name, Raphael Alexander who is cited as a Vancouver-based blogger. His blog is entitled Ambiguously Ambidextrous.

See the Facebook Event announcing this Sunday's concert.

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 71 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

These five people deserve to be together. There is no question in my mind. I have to believe that the Judge who presides over the court case that opens on January 12th 2010 will be similarly convinced that three lovely children must be returned by the Ministry of Children and Family Development to their birth parents, Zabeth and Paul Bayne. It has now been two months beyond two years that this family has been ripped apart and hurt so deeply that words fail a description.

Not even a defense that this was a sincere attempt to protect children satisfies the magnitude of this wrongful insistence to keep the children away from parents about whom there is no evidence of parental dereliction, or abuse, or cruelty or instability, or character deficit.

In hanging on to this case, a local MCFD division has dug a mudhole so deep that the entire Ministry countenance is going to be covered with it. The media will have a field day. If MCFD has been seeking to follow through on Hughes recommendations, these efforts may be lost in the shadow of the mess this case will create.

When her parents brought her for examination reporting that one of the small boys fell on Bethany, only after multiple opinions were offered by medical professionals did one doctor diagnose her as a shaken baby. It was the most informed opinion this doctor could provide at the time. It is possible that this doctor is no longer willing to maintain this opinion as the only possible explanation for Bethany's condition twenty-six months ago. This doctor has been made aware of the dozen or so contradictory medical opinions that the Baynes have received.

The penalty of this long separation from their children which Paul and Zabeth Bayne have borne is an unusual cruelty now, rather than anything remedial for parents or anything helpful for the children. MCFD regionalized the Ministry placing Directors in various geographic sectors, and while this has some validity, in a case like this, the primary leadership, the Minister and the Deputy Minister and their aides may be so removed from the day to day decisions that have affected this family's life, that not until it is this grave, do they become aware of the debacle.

Paul and Zabeth are fit parents. They have demonstrated this valiantly under the most trying circumstances, with just a few hours of visitation privilege each week, and with understandable calls and letters regarding their children’s health and well being when they flag concerns that are missed within the foster parenting program or ignored by MCFD that do not want to fund further medical examination. All three children should be returned to Zabeth and Paul.

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 70 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

It’s December 26th and it is St. Stephen’s Day. The day is more familiarly known as Boxing Day in Canada and a few other countries. It was perhaps during the Middle Ages 800 years ago in the UK that collection boxes for the poor were opened in churches so the contents might be distributed to needy people. This tradition continues in some churches. Similar collections in Holland were contained in earthenware pottery shaped like pigs and it is surmised that this was the origin of the term ‘piggy bank’.

A familiar carol tells the story of King Wenceslas called ‘good’, because he looked out on the Feast of Stephen on a snowy day and spotted a poor man gathering fire wood. The King asked his page who this man was and when he was told who he was and where he lived, the king did something generous and exemplary. He and his page took meats and foods and firewood and trudged through the blowing snow to this poor man’s residence to offer him a feast to remember. The frigid temperatures made the page want to give up but the saintly monarch was undaunted and told the page simply to follow his steps. Their unselfish gesture would soon make them warm.

"Mark my footsteps, good my page. Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter's rage freeze thy blood less coldly."

In his master's steps he trod, where the snow lay dinted;
Heat was in the very sod which the saint had printed.
Therefore, Christian men, be sure, wealth or rank possessing,
Ye who now will bless the poor, shall yourselves find blessing.”

That’s the spirit of community concern, accountability for one’s wealth and a sense of responsibility for those less fortunate at the moment, that thoughts of Christmas invoke. We will all agree that philanthropy and sacrifice doesn’t need to be limited to one season of each year. Paul and Zabeth Bayne will soon need the generosity of friends and supporters to aid them with legal expenses as they struggle to recover their children. I will tell you more later.

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 69 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

This is Christmas Day

Merry Christmas visiting friends. Your reading visits please me greatly. For the past three months my GPS blog has concentrated upon the dilemma of one family – the Baynes. Reading regularly, you will have become familiar with their story of shock, despair, loss, faith, advocacy, encouragement and optimism.

The conclusion to their story has not yet been written. At least we don’t have access to the manuscript.

Paul and Zabeth Bayne and their children Boy K, Boy B, and Baby B have awoken this Christmas morning in different houses. Paul and Zabeth together today, are without their children for the third Christmas in succession. The children will open presents and foster parents will watch their faces. Behind the happy eyes of children at Christmas, what inarticulate, indefinable sadness is concealed? Customarily when young parents with children at home read this account, the needle of their sympathy meter is in the extreme zone. Grief and disgust are apt descriptors of the intuitive response that most of us have to the grim tale of the Baynes.

A child injured, a medical diagnosis, a suspicion, a confiscation of children, no opportunity for defence, no access to appeal, a shattering legal bill, sale of a home and grand piano, a stack of injustices, a catalogue of discourtesies, unresponsiveness to birth parents, a flouting of law, an unconscionable delay of legal hearing, an appalling demonstration of administrative incompetence and a family devastated but not yet broken.

And here is the reason why these particular parents are not broken. On this Christmas morning Paul and Zabeth rejoice in the birth of another child, not to them alone, but to the world. A birth of God’s own Son Jesus Christ. People of faith, Paul and Zabeth, before they had children of their own, committed their lives to trust exclusively in Jesus Christ as the Lord and Saviour. They know that Christ came to make things right. Righteousness is the economy in which Jesus operates. They believe that during this year 2010, righteousness will be administered to them and to their children. Surrounding them even now is a vast number of supporters, some of whom do not necessarily share their faith commitment but who nonetheless are encouragers because it is the righteous thing to do.

Merry Christmas to each one of you and Merry Christmas to you Paul and Zabeth.

Reader, please hit this link and sign this petition

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 68 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

GOD SENT HIS SON

Exact words are important, specially when they are scripture, and specially when it is believed that these were inspired. The New Testament was written using Aramaic Greek, and the apostle Paul who wrote a letter to the Christians in Galatia chose his words carefully. For that reason the Greek verb exapostello is significant. You will recognize the prefix ‘ex’ meaning ‘out of’ or ‘out from.’ The body of the word then sounds like apostle. An apostle like Paul was a ‘sent one.’ Apostello is the verb “I send.’ The word exapostello then means ‘sending out from’ and carries the idea of going forth from a place at which the person has been before. It is found in Galatians 4:4 which is translated, “But when the fullness of time had come. God sent forth his Son, born of a woman…” When the time was right, God sent His Son out from Himself. His Son left heaven with divine authorization.

Understanding this commissioning, the words of another text, John 1:1-2, and 14 become an inspirational revelation. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”


So we know that Jesus came from God and he did so by becoming human. But exactly how did he pull that off? By being born. This is not a reference to the beginning of his existence but to being born as a child of a woman. Jesus came a long way from his exalted position to take on this likeness of ours. An Old Testament prophet named Isaiah foresaw this and wrote, “behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” That name as you may know means, “God with us.” How profound is that?

That involvement of God in our ordinary lives is precisely what Paul and Zabeth are counting upon. Sometimes human decisions must run their course until the time is just right for the establishment of a righteous statement – a declaration of authenticity, and a broader outcome than anyone can imagine. Within three weeks a court of law will convene at which time it is believed that truth will be clearly in evidence, and that truth will set the Bayne children free to return home to their parents.

It’s Christmas Eve. May the blessing of God be your experience and Paul’s and Zabeth’s comfort tonight.

Reader, please hit this link and sign this petition

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 67 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

THE MEANING OF 'THE FULLNESS OF TIME'

There is a danger that after the passage of generations, an historical personality as remarkable as Jesus, will be mistaken by cynical minds as merely a character from a pleasing but imaginary story. Even we who are so familiar with the details of Christ's life need to be reminded that there is nothing mythical about the coming of Christ.

The birth of Jesus Christ happened in time. Real earth time. What is real to us as humans is what occurs in time. Time is our sphere.

The Bible, communicates that the One True God has existed before time itself began. From outside of time, God spoke and his words created everything that we understand and everything that we cannot possibly comprehend. When he created finite things he created time. Sun and moon, and days and nights became instruments by which God marked time for us. God created humanity. Early in human history on earth, God spoke to people to reveal who he is. But through his very own son he has most effectively revealed himself and spoken the things he wants most to communicate. He did that in real earth time.

God made time as a preparation for eternity. It is within time that we acquire our admission to heaven or our entrance to hell. These verses are of great importance to our destiny.

Zabeth and Paul Bayne believe what the Bible tells them when it says, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying “Abba! Father!”

But why did God’s Son come at the particular time that he did? Because it was the right time. If you are running bath water in the tub and you leave it momentarily in order to do something else, the water keeps rising. It won't run over the sides until it has crept up to the top, edged along the surface, and not until the last moment when the tub space is filled will the water overflow. When the tub of time was filled to the brim with everything that God determined should happen, then Jesus came. The fullness of time is the fittest time, the most suitable time in the world's history for the event we commemorate at Christmas.

Next year Paul’s and Zabeth’s children will be involved with other children in a Christmas pageant that honours the Saviour with thanksgiving for his birth. They will arrive in the parents' car having come from home - the family home. Their deliverance will have happened in the fullness of time.

Scripture from Galatians 4:4-6

Reader, please hit this link and sign this petition

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 66 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

TIME

We are constantly talking about time. We feel its constraints. Time is money. Time ran out. It's about time. There is a time for everything. Time is of the essence. Time's up. Time out. Don't waste my time. We're out of time. Give me a little more time. I didn't have enough time. Where did all the time go? How time flies! I'm just killing time.

Time is the sphere in which our lives are contained. All of your lives you have filled in forms on which one of the priority questions was the date of birth. Grave markers have two dates, one noting birth date and the other denoting a person's date of death. Time holds the boundaries of our earthly existence.

C.S. Lewis, the prolific novelist and Christian apologist wrote the Narnia series of children’s novels. In the realm of make-believe a writer can manipulate time. In the first book, "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe," four children, all siblings spend several days in an old professor's house. In one room is a large wardrobe. When they open the wardrobe they see only hanging fur coats. One by one the children hide inside the wardrobe and each finds that there is no back wall. Rather, behind the fur coats is an entrance into another world of strange creatures and difficult struggles. When at last, they come back to the real world, after a journey that seems months long if not years, they discover that in real earth time it is only the very next moment after they climbed inside the wardrobe.

For over two years Zabeth and Paul Bayne have survived emotional and psychological collapse while they have subsisted on a few hours each week with their three children. It must seem longer than twenty-six months to them. It must feel like a decade. They have waited all this time for the suitable time to defend themselves and prove to an impartial judge that the initial diagnosis of shaken baby was hasty, unreliable, mistaken and that they have never harmed any of their children and that they are fit and good parents who deserve to have their children returned to them.

On January 13th to the 15th an impartial judge, having listened to the legal counsel for the Ministry of Children and Family Development and to the legal representative for the Baynes, will pass judgements, the affects of which will mark this time forever. I am trusting that the Baynes will be able at last to emerge victorious from their nightmare. Not victors over human foes and systems but rather victorious over personal long term emotional wreckage and bitterness. I want them to be victors over crushing disappointments and demoralizing discouragements. Government has let them down, has let their children down, and has bred distrust in the people it serves. I am hoping that the Bayne family will come out from behind the fur coats in January and the day will be like the continuation of the wonderful life they were enjoying two years ago. Earth time will yield to God's good time.

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 65 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

WHAT MAKES A GOOD PARENT?

Here are eight slices of advice. Parents generally want to do the best job of parenting their children into adulthood and independence. Parents desire to make wise choices so that during the process of raising the children and when the outcome is determined, there are as few regrets as possible but there is an archive of great memories.

What makes a good parent?

1. A Good parent lets go of the notion that the child will be what the parent wants the child to be. That is not to encourage the abrogation of the parental duties that shape good character. It relates more to a restraint from seeking to mold a child into a perfect duplication of the parent’s vision.
2. A Good parent exemplifies love for others and particularly love for the child and communicates this to the child enough that confidence and security are the character building outcomes.
3. A Good parent owns responsibility for the rearing of the child and does not expect others like school teachers or church program leaders to do this for the parent.
4. A Good parent self educates in order to provide optimum health and nutrition, to supply a range of cultural and cuisine experiences, to teach about world concerns, political and social matters.
5. A Good parent is vigorous about learning and respecting a child’s personality and introducing chores at appropriate developmental stages that equip the child for the future.
6. A Good parent takes time at all stages to be interested and involved in what the child is doing and to give undivided attention when it is required so that the parent’s influence is highly effective.
7. A Good parent communicates in physical ways, in body language, in listening and interacting with the child, that home is the safe place where love is unconditional.

Zabeth and Paul are eager to be the good parents God called them to be 24/7, but they are permitted 6 hours per week to be with their children. The children cannot live with their parents. They live instead with foster parents. To live as a family, Zabeth and Paul have missed 33% of their eldest son’s lifetime, 50 % of their second son’s earth time, and most of their daughter’s life. These three children have been in the custody of a government Ministry for over two years. And this, not because the parents ever abused their two boys or abused the baby girl but because medical professionals were taught to associate the baby girl’s physical symptoms exclusively with Shaken Baby Syndrome. Suspicion translated into a fractured family, traumatized and confused children, broken-hearted parents and grandparents. Bureaucratic indifference has set in as each player focuses upon his or her specific task rather than upon the larger objective of what is best for this family and the wider family and the communities in which it moves.

I credit my skeletal content today to Natalie Bahadur whose article ‘What makes a good parent?’ on the Canadian Living website inspired me with its 8 opinions on good parenting, in which she recorded the advice of several Canadian parents on the subject of child rearing and what it takes to be a good mom or dad. Natalie Bahadur is a contributor to ElleCanada.com and the editor of StyleAtHome.com.

Photographs are unrelated to the Bayne family.

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 64 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

Press the link in the title below and listen for 90 seconds to this greeting.
Holiday Message from Minister Mary Polak - Province of British Columbia



I heard this as a courteous and friendly seasonal greeting from an elected official who is seeking sincerely to accomplish her mandate within one of the most complex ministry portfolios. In her comments I picked up on one emphasis that marks for me the missing ingredient in the MCFD operational philosophy. Her Christmas greeting is specially directed in her conclusion, to Foster families and Adoptive families where children are treated as their own. Constantly I am grieved for the birth parents whose children have been removed from their homes whether for reasons with evidentiary support or for reasons of concern and suspicion. Where is a greeting to them? I have tried to listen and read best wishes extended to them by anyone in authority and I can't find anything.

Take a greeting from me. I extend to all parents whose children have been removed from their homes by child protection agencies, and who are grieving the absence of those children and finding it difficult to navigate through this Christmas season without a complete emotional breakdown, a serene, pleasant and positive Christmas. Please include a consideration of the birth of Jesus Christ as the Prince of Peace. May God's peace settle over you and your home.

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 63 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

PARENTS CAN BE TREATED COURTEOUSLY


Zabeth is an accomplished musician, a concert pianist, a music teacher. That was her life before, our of necessity, the recovery of her family took over her life. She awakens to the daily pain of beginning another day without her babies, of returning to daily duties all of which revolve around gathering information to help her own cause and assist other parents with similar complaints with the BC Ministry of Children and Family Development. Weekly, she writes letters to the Premier, to Members of the Legislative Assembly, to media journalists and news organizations in hopes that someone will listen and someone will respond. She and Paul work are custodians at night. That permits them to be available for each of the two afternoons when they can visit their children every week. Customarily the three children who now live in the same foster home, are brought by a commissioned driver to a location to which Paul and Zabeth go to spend three hours from 1 pm to 4 pm.

MCFD is supposed to be a service and help agency. Nothing is gained when its employees manifest an adversarial posture. If protection of children and eventual restoration of the family is the Ministry objective, it is sufficient to withhold the children from living with the parents. It is pointless to treat the parents badly. Yet there is evidence that thoughtlessness, oversights and lack of common courtesies typify the way some workers in the regional sector of MCFD manage the Bayne case. Consideration of the Bayne parents appears to be a low Ministry priority. Disrespect is repeatedly reinforced. This was one of the most recent examples.

They were informed that all through December and to the end of the first week of January at least one of the three children will not be in attendance at the visitation day. No explanation accompanies this notification. No indication of a makeup visit is given so Zabeth is compelled to request one in writing from the social worker that oversees the daily care of the children. Most of these inquiries are never answered. Zabeth and Paul are not told which children they will see on a given day or who will be absent. This week’s Thursday visit has been entirely cancelled for all three children but again without explanation or suggestion of a follow-up. A phone call from the social worker could easily communicate the explanation.

A network of parents having similar problems with the BC MCFD confers casually and it becomes clear that this treatment is being experienced by others as well as the Baynes. In fact, some parents who were told that a visit was cancelled and therefore didn’t show up, have stated that their children later told them that the MCFD told the children that their parents didn't want to see them today. In other instances parents have been told that the children didn’t want to see them on a certain day which they later learned was untrue. This is one of the reasons why Zabeth and Paul show up for every scheduled visitation time even when one has been cancelled. The Baynes have driven from Surrey to Chilliwack for a visit and on occasion have done so in snowy weather and found no children were there. Zabeth says that “On those days the return trip has been filled with many tears.”

Reader, please hit this link and sign this petition to return the children to Paul and Zabeth.

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 62 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

A THIRD CHRISTMAS WITHOUT THEM


This will be the third Christmas that Zabeth and Paul cannot celebrate Christmas with their three children in their own home. Christmas 2007, 2008, passed without resolution of the trauma that intercepted their family because of a household misfortune and an unsupported medical diagnosis of a child’s injuries. It appears that Christmas 2009 will be similarly spent by mom and dad without the clamorous sounds of three children unwrapping surprises. Three small children not waking up on Christmas morning running in pajamas to the Christmas tree in mommy’s and daddy’s family room. Three small children who have been one year older each of the past two Christmases so the memory of Christmas at home fades just a bit more.

Two of the three children are small boys, whom the Ministry of Children has been compelled in court to admit, have never been harmed by their parents. Two small boys whom doctors have told the MCFD, are healthy and normal. Still the MCFD retains these boys and does so against its own lawyer’s counsel. Of course that health assessment was made just after the boys were taken from their parents two years ago when the boys were four and two years old. Having torn a two year old from his parents and forced him to live with other people in four different homes for two more years, then test his normality. If he is maladjusted or deficient in any way, it is not the parents’ fault. 50% of his chronological natural life has been messed with and a greater percentage of his psychological and spiritual life. AND THIS DID NOT HAVE TO HAPPEN! There was every reason to let those boys stay with their parents even twelve months ago. The case of the little girl, whose injury precipitated this awful situation would of course require a more challenging settlement process – a court appearance. Somehow the 2007 medical diagnosis would have to be disproven or dropped. A court date has been set for January 12-15, 2010. Regrettably the court case involves the future of all three children and whether they will be permitted to spend Christmas 2010 at home for the first time in four years or never again to know a Christmas with mommy and daddy Bayne.

It is painful to write this when I know that Zabeth and Paul read it daily and I know how unbearable the sentiments expressed are for them. But they are realists and they are also people of faith in the God whose love gave a Son at Christmas - the son Jesus about whose life and work Paul and Zabeth desire to nurture their children. And with God, nothing is impossible.


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Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 61 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

How Does Innocence Act?

Innocence is a term used to indicate a general lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, sin, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence refers to the lack of legal guilt of an individual, with respect to a crime.

The Innocence of people is legally assumed. Before the law a person is to be considered innocent until he or she is proven to be guilty. The law prefers to take the risk of freeing a guilty party over convicting innocents. What frequently can happen within the child protection arena is the assumption of guilt by reason of suspicion. When an explanation for a child’s physical, emotional, and psychological condition does not satisfy the agents of a child protection organization, the default position may be an assumed guilt of someone in whose care or company the child has been. Even though insufficient evidence exists upon which the law can base charges of abuse, the suspected abuser may be free yet nevertheless be treated as someone convicted. If that person is a parent, the child protection organization may still exercise custodial control over that child so that punishment by reason of separation of child and parent is still exacted. If the Government ACT that regulates the operations of the Child Protection Organization is not tight enough, the organization may exploit power and abuse innocence under either a genuine or malicious child protection motivation.

How does innocence act? How would you expect innocent parents to behave when their children are taken from them by people with government approved authority?

Even when promised that the children will most likely be returned sooner if the parents will admit to alleged improper treatment of the child or children, how should you expect innocent parents to respond? Powerless and frantic parents may opt to acknowledge culpability and do so against their own consciences.

If innocent parents refuse to admit to something of which they are not guilty, and instead react in fear and desperation and helplessness by written and telephone appeals to every government official and news media source and help agency, one can either see this as the predictable and expected response of innocence or see this as indicative of inherently difficult, trouble making and guilty people. The former assessment is made by socials workers for whom the old adage, “there but for the grace of God go I,” is still a relevant filter for facts. The latter assessment when made by a trained social worker demonstrates how jaded child protection workers can become because of the cruelty they frequently see inflicted on children by caregivers who do not deserve to have children in their homes. Questioning innocence carries with it the obligation to thoroughly investigate and know the characters and persons whose lives and families are being interrupted.


The art image is a painting entitled L’Innocence by staunch traditionalist and French academic painter, William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Photo is of Zabeth (mommy) and Bethany.

Reader, please hit this link and sign this petition

On the Afternoon_Play on BBC is a program called 'Guilty_Until_Proved_Innocent' writtten by Deborah Davis. It is a gripping and timely presentation. Scenario: When Dina and Jake rush their baby daughter to hospital, little do they realize that it is the beginning of a Kafkaesque nightmare from which it seems there is no escape.

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 60 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

PEOPLE EVERYWHERE IDENTIFY EMOTIONALLY WITH THE BAYNES. THE MOUNTING MEDICAL EVIDENCE THAT CORROBORATES THEIR ACCOUNT OF THEIR INFANT'S HOUSEHOLD ACCIDENT IS ONLY GOING TO INCREASE THE NATIONAL SUPPORT FOR THE RETURN OF THEIR THREE CHILDREN.

Clint and Karen Langelaar farm turkeys north of Saskatoon. They write a blog called LOCAL POND with domestic, family, homey news and commentary. A while ago they learned about Paul and Zabeth Bayne and they have been encouraging readers of their blog to sign the Bayne Campaign for Justice petition. A side bar link connects to my daily posts. Here are a couple of their recent entries. People from various provinces and various American states are reading their posts and then often drop over to my GPS site for detailed information.

Friday, December 11, 2009
Keep Praying

Most mornings I leave my bedroom when I hear Julie is up and crying. Upon opening my door, I am greeted with, “Good morning, Mommy!” by a small boy who has already commandeered most of the space on the living room carpet for his blocks and trains.

This morning, though, the kids are at their grandparents. When I got up, the house was dark, and there was no voice greeting me (although the toys are all still there from yesterday). I miss those kids, and it’s only been 15 hours. How short compared to the 2 years that the Baynes have been without children in their home. I want so much for them to have justice done and for them to have their children returned. I encourage you to keep praying for them to have their kids returned by Christmas. And if you haven’t signed the petition, please sign it! It only takes a minute.

There have been some new developments in the case – a pre-trial hearing with a court date set for January 13, and admissions that there is no real evidence to continue withholding the children.
Posted by Karen / Clint at 8:04 AM

Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Keep praying for the Baynes

They Baynes family has continued to be on my mind, and my heart aches for them – wanting only to be reunited to their three young children who were unfairly taken from them by the Ministry of Children and Family Development in BC – they still wait and pray and spend the 6 hours a week with their children that they are allotted. Please pray that justice will be done, that they will be able to spend Christmas with their children, and that they will be home for good. Our God is a powerful God who can do so much more than we can ask or imagine.

(If confused, please see previous post here about the Baynes’ situation.) Ron Unruh, author of the blog GPS, keeps very current updates on the case.
Posted by Karen / Clint at 8:57 PM

Reader, please hit this link and sign this petition

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 59 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

The petition

THE BAYNE CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE

Our moral support will help Paul and Zabeth Bayne. Their three children were removed from their home on October 22, 2007. It is difficult to define justice but reasonable people always know when justice is missing. It is missing in their case.

Here is a synopsis of their despair.

Paul and Zabeth have three children, Boy K, born October 18, 2004; Boy B, born June 12, 2005; and Baby B, born August 3, 2007. Baby B and her brothers were taken from the Bayne’s home by the BC Ministry of Children and Family Development on October 22, 2007. Baby B was two months old then and she has not been home since then. She has lived for two years in foster care homes.

This child was seized when the concerned parents took their struggling two month old daughter to the hospital following what Zabeth reported as an accident in which one of the small boys fell on the infant’s head. Baby B became ill and after several examinations was finally taken to British Columbia Children’s Hospital. The attending health professionals are to be commended for flagging what might have potentially been parental abuse. However, consideration of other possible causes for the baby's condition was surrendered to what has become in many cases a default suspicion that one of these parents had shaken this baby causing the head injury. The children were taken from the parents in order to protect the children.

In the months that followed, the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) was inundated with letters speaking to the parents’ character, integrity and reliability. Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigated and cleared the Baynes of liability in Baby B's condition. The MCFD however, has maintained its unsubstantiated position of non accidental injury and a presumption of guilt for the Bayne parents. The tale is tangled and does not reflect well on the Ministry at the moment and meanwhile a family has suffered for two years.

Please sign this petition so we may encourage the Baynes and appeal to the BC Ministry of Children to return the Bayne children.

Signing your name is FREE. IGNORE THE DONATION REQUEST ON THE NEXT PAGE. Donations requested here are not for the Bayne Campaign for Justice but rather for this website iPetition design team. JUST EXIT THE DONATION PAGE.

Sign with your full name rather than the anonymous option because that counts best.

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 58 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

THE SHAKEN BABY DIAGNOSIS IS BECOMING TIRED

The Bayne Baby is now in the custody of a provincial ministry because the initial diagnosis of her medical condition upon which the ministry rested its decision was Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS). That was two years ago. That diagnosis was one doctor’s opinion. The Bayne’s lawyer has a dozen medical experts whose opinions dispute SBS as a credible diagnosis for Bethany’s presenting injuries in October 2007. And having held this child for two years, the SBS finding is looking tired.

Quite apart from this child’s injury and that questionable diagnosis is the matter of her two brothers both of whom are also in the custody of the provincial ministry. The ministry’s own lawyer, based on medical examination results and history advised the ministry several months ago that there was no evidence of emotional or physical abuse to these children and therefore no acceptable reason to hold the boys. He further told the Fraser Regional MCFD that the children should be returned to their parents. That return did not happen. Last week in Chilliwack Court, the lawyer once more was compelled to acknowledge this same opinion before Judge Crabtree.

Now, reasonable people would conclude that the only other justifiable reason for withholding the return of the boys is because the parents are convincingly the worst possible parents and that returning them poses to them great risk. If anyone will spend time with the Baynes themselves rather than reading MCFD file opinion papers, you would know that these are highly reputable people of good character and values. And this outstanding case takes on an increasingly bad odor.

Well then back to the female child and the initial SBS diagnosis. The international community of child abuse experts is polarized over the validity of an SBS diagnosis. Typically, when medical professionals or pathologists find a combination of brain swelling, retinal bleeding and tissue damage to brain lings, the SBS is the automatic or default diagnosis. This has been the widely accepted opinion since the 1970’s. Shaken Baby Syndrome or SBS has sent many people to prison in the UK and in North America. Numerous people have written to me to tell me about false accusations of SBS. The explanation for that pivots around the controversy attached to SBS. Over recent years however, researchers have maintained that these same symptoms can be attributed to accident. Understandably, this growing skepticism about SBS is strengthened by Britain’s enormous 2003 Goldsmith review of 297 baby death convictions. The Goudge inquiry in Ontario also underscores skepticism about SBS.

Dr. Barr, professor of pediatrics at UBC is also an advisor to the National Centre on Shaken Baby Syndrome that is based in Utah. Quoted in a Globe and Mail article he insists that a similar review in British Columbia is unnecessary and would be a waste of money. He asserts that when accompanied by proper detective work SBS is a solid diagnosis.

Well readers, good investigative work of shaken infants should yield solid conclusions but that proper detective work may be missing when everything is revealed at the January 13th Court Date. The Baynes have stated from the start that this injury was accidental. One child falling on another. MCFD investigation may have uncovered something entirely different from shaken baby and that is Glutaric Aciduria. MCFD has not disclosed this. Someone divulged this without MCFD’s knowledge. That diagnostic possibility is important because some individuals with Glutaric Aciduria have developed bleeding in the brain or eyes that could be mistaken for the effects of child abuse. Aside from Glutaric Aciduria there are other medical explanations consistent with her premature birth that explain her presenting condition at the hospital back in September 2007.

The Baynes have been treated like villains far too long. Give their children back to them and stop this charade of protection.

Reader, please hit this link and sign this petition

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 57 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

Fraser Regional Office Emails

The problem with private email these days is that there is no guarantee that it will remain private. As soon as personal notes become electronic a large measure of control is relinquished. Email can be discovered and made public. Some times that is unpleasant. The disclosure in this post illustrates the suspicions and the adversarial posture of a section of the Ministry of Children and Family Development toward Paul and Zabeth Bayne as they have sought for over two years to recover three children and have refused to acknowledge a crime of abuse to their baby. It underscores to me how a Ministry loses focus and instead of improving the dialogue that will bring a family together once again, withdraws and entrenches for the contest.

Here is March 2008 correspondence between Ministry of Children officials that I found on the website of Voices of Children Alliance (VOCA). I don’t know anything about VOCA. I wasn't looking for it. It was simply there. I googled something related to the Bayne name. Anyone can do it. The officials in this mail exchange are John Fitzimmons (Community Services Manager); Bruce McNeill (Director, Integrated Practice, Fraser Regional Office; Berhe Gulbot (Team Leader for Hope/Agassiz - CF & CS Office); Loren Humeny (Social Worker, Hope and Area). The subject of their brief interaction is an expressed concern about heightened publicity around the Bayne case attributed to the many Bayne supporters/protestors who were making regular and public demand for the return of the children. The emails appear to reveal that the aforementioned people construed the genuine moral support of these friends as mere publicity in preparation for a lawsuit by the Baynes against the MCFD.

On March 26, 2008 at 2:05 PM Loren Humeny wrote to Berhe Gulbot on the subject ‘Bayne File.’

“Hello John, I am writing this e-mail to bring you up to date of this case as it seems to be going in the direction of a possible law suite against the Ministry.”

On March 27, 2008 at 10:54 AM, Berhe Gulbot wrote to John Fitzsimmons and copied to Loren Humeny about the Bayne File.

“I would like to update you regarding the Bayne case. I asked Loren to write email regarding this case. Loren's email has more details for your reading. The purpose of this update is to inform you of the continued high profile nature of this case, the potential for parents complaining to higher management or Victoria, unconfirmed reports that parents are thinking of suing the Ministry and that they are asking people to support them by attending at the Chilliwack court in the next court hearing and may be invite media.
I strongly suggest that you review the file and respond to me if you have any suggestions that we need to take action.”

And on March 27, 2008 at 11:33 AM John Fitzsimmons wrote to Bruce McNeill and copied to Berhe Gulbot and Loren Humeny on the subject: Bayne file possible future media involvement.

“I'm forwarding this to you Bruce so you are aware of this file in case there is future media attention. Berhe and Loren have spoken with me about this file on a number of occasions and the case planning has been through. “
Unfortunately, this family has been challenging to work with, there has been little in the way of an explanation for the baby's injuries, and a lot of medical evidence which indicates Shaken Baby Syndrome.
There is little that I can suggest to Loren and Berhe that they might do which they are not already doing. If you would like to discuss this further or would like some detailed information in case of any possible media involvement please let me know....thanks”
John Fitzsimmons
Community Services Manager
Mission, Fraser Cascades
#201- 7364 Home Street
Mission, B.C. V2V 3Y7
PH: (604) 820-4300
Cell:(604) 217-4194
FAX: (604) 820-4311
John.Fitzsimmons@gov.bc.ca

I plead for the MCFD regional office and personnel to return to discussion with Paul and Zabeth for the purposes of putting this family back together again. That must still be seen as the most commendable future for these children.

Hit this link and sign the petition to return the children to mommy and daddy.

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 56 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

A QUESTION OF INEQUITY

Paul and Zabeth have been informed in the past that when they visit their three children on the two afternoons each week, they are not to speak to their children about the past. That’s correct. They are not permitted to talk about what it was like to be a family two years ago. They are not to remind them of home as it was before the Ministry of Children stepped into their lives in October 2007 and removed the children from all that was familiar. These two little boys have been in four foster homes in two years, yet Paul and Zabeth are not permitted to speak hope to them about the possibility of coming home to be a family again. A supervisor sits in all these family gatherings and listens, even making notes of what is observed and heard. Paul and Zabeth must be in compliance or visiting rights may be removed completely, because these children now belong to the province of British Columbia under an interim court order. Interim lasts a long time - over two years apparently!

But then, please note this inequity! The other afternoon while Zabeth and Paul visited their boys, one of them told mommy and daddy that the caregiver has told him that if the Judge rules that she can keep the children, then she promises to put them in swimming lessons. Would you consider that to be talking about the future and seeking to engender hope for a certain future outcome? I would. So apparently the same conversational restrictions are not applicable to the temporary care giver. It’s challenging for me to envision a foster caregiver wanting to kindle in a child an expectation for a result that terminates an existing family completely. This child has been told that he will be with the caregiver for a long time. How much more constructive would it be for a foster parent working for the province’s child protection and family development agency to be on assignment to encourage that child to believe that his family will come together again because that is what ‘we all want.’ ‘We’ should pertain to every member of this MCFD enterprise. ‘Restoration’ seems not to belong in the vocabulary of the MCFD officials who have managed the Bayne portfolio. On this same afternoon Paul and Zabeth were reminded that they are not allowed to speak to their children alone or out of the hearing range of a supervisor. No private conversations are permitted.

The regional MCFD should be all over this to insure the integrity of the Ministry’s mandate is not compromised. The regional MCFD office that manages the Bayne case is the Fraser Region. It will be interesting to learn whether this is acceptable MCFD practice or whether the Victoria MCFD front office conscience alarm goes off when they learn of this.

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 55 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

WE ARE STALLED

503 people have signed the petition and that number was reached several days ago. If you haven't signed yet, would you please do so. Or, perhaps you can forward this invitation to some friends who may similarly assess the facts and conclude that the Bayne children should be returned to their parents. Like many of us you may acknowledge that the children were removed back in 2007 for the legitimate reason of investigation of a potential case of child abuse, but the suspicion can no longer hold up. All of the reasons for discounting the suspicion have been laid out in many previous daily posts on this blog. Paul and Zabeth are fit parents who deserve the right to raise their children and end this nightmare.

I want you to add more signatures to this petition. I am going to make sure that newspapers know the strength of this support.

Here is the Petition for the Bayne Campaign for Justice At the petition site, sign your name, when you move to the donation page, just exit the site. The donation request is not for the Baynes but for the site developers. Your name will still have been recorded for us, thanks.

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 54 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

A BARRELL FULL OF SAWDUST

Ray Ferris is himself a former social worker and now an outspoken advocate for reform of the MCFD as well as a critic of present procedure. He has not only carefully followed the injustices of the Bayne case and is assisting them in their case to recover their children, but he comments here to the Baynes on Tuesday’s Pre-Trial court proceedings. This is his note in its entirety and the bold lines are his. With Mr. Ferris' permission Zabeth forwarded this to every MLA, MP, the RCY office, Gordon Campbell, Attorney General, Mary Polak and the Prime Ministers office. They have received other mailings before as well.

"Thank you for the information on the court pretrial conference of Dec 8th.

I understand the following points. 1. The Ministry of Children and Family development, through counsel admits that there is no evidence at all of physical or emotional abuse to the boys. 2. The Ministry through counsel acknowledges that their whole case rests on the opinion of Dr. Colbourne that Bethany was shaken. 3.Thus it follows that the only relevant evidence is that which tests the validity of Dr. Colbourne's opinion.

We can also note that it is now approximately 18 months since contrary expert opinions were submitted to the Ministry for presentation to Dr. Colbourne and since they were discussing her reaction and the possibility of finding an independant expert. During that time the director has failed to produce a written response from Dr. Colbourne to the experts' reports and he has failed to produce the independant report so long under discussion.

You express perplexity that the director proposes to call so many witnesses who have no relevant evidence to give on the main contention that Bethany was shaken. You also cannot understand why they would not put on the main witness (Colborne) first. It would after all seem to be the obvious and responsible thing to put on their key witness at the start. Then if examination and cross-examination show that her evidence is not convincing, it might seem to the judge to be redundant to call other witnesses who really have no relevant evidence to give.

There is a very simple answer to this. The director's lawyer told him in January 2008 and again in July 2008 that the case was weak and unlikely to succeed with proper defense. The lawyer at that time advised the director to return the two boys as there was no evidence of risk. The director did not follow his lawyer's advice, nor did he rebut the advice. What seems to have happened is that the director was unable to make up his mind what to do and as the months slipped by in indecision his position became increasingly untenable. It became too late to return the boys without looking quite foolish. It would by this time be incongruous to ask for a temporary order. So the only way to save face was to go ahead and ask for a continuing care order. Knowing the case was weak, he hoped to bolster his slender evidence by throwing in a lot of witnesses as a show of force.

Put in the most simple and blunt terms, this case is no longer about child welfare, or the best interests of your children, but it is about saving the bureaucrats from embarrassment.

All the additional witnesses have no substantive evidence and they are a smokescreen to conceal the weakness of the case. Another way to put it would be that the barrel has been filled with sawdust to conceal the fact that only one small grain of opinion evidence is all that really lies there. This tactic is very costly. It is emotionally draining for you and your family, it prolongs the stay in care without good cause and extends the court time in such a way as to cost taxpayers like myself (and John Fitzsimmons and Andrew Robinson) a bundle.

I would imagine that after yesterday's hearing that Judge Crabtree has a very good idea what is going on and that is why he is keen to get another conference going between him and lawyers only."

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 53 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

COURT CASE YESTERDAY
Yesterday, a pre-trial court session was held at 1:30 pm in the Chilliwack Court House. Zabeth and Paul Bayne and their legal representative Doug Christie were present as was the legal counsel for the Ministry of Children and Family Development. In court the lawyer for MCFD admitted that with respect to the two boys, MCFD possesses no evidence of physical or emotional abuse or neglect. And remember it was he who told MCFD many months ago to return the boys because there were no grounds for holding them and MCFD disregarded this counsel. With respect to the Bayne’s two year old daughter MCFD legal counsel had to acknowledge that MCFD is relying solely upon the original diagnosis of one doctor who concluded she was a shaken baby. During a private moment outside the court room the MCFD legal counsel stated to the Baynes’ lawyer that this doctor has seen nine of the eleven reports gathered from ten medical experts who dispute the original diagnosis. The admission concerning the two boys underscores the unsupportable position for MCFD to continue to withhold these sons from their parents. Yet because of the nature of this particular hearing, the Bayne side was not able to present a request for an interim custody order in favour of the parents. The Baynes were very pleased with the work of their legal representative Doug Christie. The Judge set the date for trial for January 13 which is thankfully much sooner than was earlier expected. All of us who support the Baynes may have been eager for better results, such as the immediate return of the boys. What disturbs me most is the knowledge that given what the MCFD lawyer admitted about the boys, there is indication that MCFD will still ask for a custody order that potentially authorizes the adoption of all three children. As unlikely as it may seem, the Judge still has the authority to make a judgement in this case before the trial that would favour the Baynes. Nonetheless, here was the strong response from the Baynes following the court appearance. “God can still choose to resolve this out of court through the orchestration of any number of possibilities. He can still have our children home for Christmas. We are still going to pray for this and I know all of you will too.”

After the grueling afternoon, Zabeth and Paul had to go to work in the evening. You may remember me telling you that they work as night custodians so they can be free during the daytime, to visit their children two afternoons per week. Can you sense how much they need your moral support?