Perhaps you will feel compelled to help Chris Martell and his family.
Chris Martell is committed to the discovery of the facts concerning his son's tragic death. Evander Lee Daniels died in a horrific way on Tuesday June 8th 2010, so Chris' sorrow and loss is very fresh and raw. My first reference to this horror was in a bulletin post on June 29 entitled Chris Martell. The facts came from CBC and Star Phoenix accounts in Saskatoon. Today's information concentrates on some of Chris' own recent comments to my blog post. It is a complex story. Another CBC story. Jeanette Stewart of The StarPhoenix also wrote articles on June 24th and June 25th.
Chris doesn't want his son's death to be quickly forgotten like a closed file in the Ministry's office. It is not sufficient to simply accept the coroner's verdict of “death by drowning.” Technically that may be appropriate but there is more to this story. This is the way Chris tells his story.
The coroner released this little boy's body to Chris on Friday of that week with a media release that there was extensive type burns which may have contributed to the death. Disturbed by what they saw, the operators of the funeral home summoned Chris to look at the infant's body because there was evidence of third degree burns over the entire body from face and head to toe with the exception of the diapered torso. As Chris himself describes it, because of the condition of the body and the way it had to be wrapped, a white screen was stretched over the casket for viewing that would not reveal all details of the child's fatal injuries.
Chris is unmarried. The mother of his child Evander experienced a not uncommon post birth depression and was unable immediately to care for the child. Since Chris was an enlisted soldier with the U.S. Army, the infant was kindly cared for by a cousin and her husband. When Evander was one year old, Chris returned on leave and during this time he and the boy's mother had a domestic dispute that resulted in a charge issued against him which prevented him from leaving Canada to return to U.S. military duty. Chris explains that because he did not have $5000 for a lawyer to fight what he says was a false charge, he chose to plead guilty and was sentenced to eight months of anger management. He was unaware that the caregiver gave the boy to Social Services because the plan was for the mother who had recovered from her depression and dependencies, to apply for custody of her own son. Chris was alarmed to learn that Evander was in A foster home in Aberdeen, SK which he discovered already had four foster children under the age of three and five children in total. Social Services appeared to make a decision that warrants criticism because it stated that a Native family with three children is overcrowded whereas the non native home mentioned above with five was not considered overcrowded. Social services assured Chris that the boy's safety was not a concern in what SS considered a safe home. Both Chris' extended family and the mother's extended family were considering how to care for Evander. Chris was in favour of letting the boy's mother have a chance to raise the child. The plan was for the birth mother's sister to take the boy until the mother received approval. Meanwhile Chris appealed for a court order for visits to his son.
On the day Evander died, Chris and the birth mother were meeting to discuss with officials why the process was taking so long to arrange. It was already too late.
Chris wants a lawyer to do an inquiry to ascertain the extent of what he perceives as obvious negligence that caused death, both from the aspect of the foster care facility and the Social Services' assessment of the home. To raise money to finance that inquiry he publicized a 150 kilometre walk from Saskatoon to Prince Albert SK. That's what caught the attention of news media earlier. He is scheduling another 125 km walk from Saskatoon to North Battleford on August 5th concluding on the 6th, Evander's birthday. In spite of the news coverage and Facebook publicity people have not responded generously and he has raised only $2500 but Chris is grateful to the donors.
I am asking you to consider giving to a Trust Fund.
Chris has informed me that Donations to this cause for an inquiry will be administered by the highly respected lawyer Donald E. Worme, Q.C., I.P.C. He serves as the Trust Fund Trustee. I have learned that Mr. Worme is a member of the Kawacatoose First Nation and practices extensively in criminal law and Aboriginal rights litigation. Donald is a founding member and member in good standing with the Indigenous Bar Association in Canada, a national association of Aboriginal lawyers, where he served as President between 1989 and 1991. He received his Queen’s Counsel appointment in December of 2002 and the Indigenous Peoples Counsel (IPC) appointment in October 2006. Don has been an active Member of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal since 2001 and is mandated to review decisions and human rights complaints. Don has been selected as one of the top 100 alumni of influence as part of a celebration of achievement at the 100th anniversary of the University of Saskatchewan.
Donations may be sent to the AFFINITY CREDIT UNION, 3315c Fairlight Dr., Saskatoon Saskatchewan, S7M 3Y5, Phone: 934-4000 Fax: 934-5496, for the Evander Daniels or Chris Martell Account - Account #1082122.
Chris Martell will welcome your email communication if you wish to encourage him or to ask him questions to which he can reply. Write him at chrismartell686@hotmail.com. He also appeals to you to join one or both Facebook pages, one that is Chris' and the other dedicated to his son Evander Lee Daniels Group.
YouTube, a pictorial tribute to Evander Lee Daniels using 'Amazing Grace' music as background.
Chris speaks to us about his need to raise funds.
The Aboriginal Multi Media Society,staff writer Isha Thompson has written Chris's story in SAGE, Saskatcehwan's Aboriginal News Publication.
http://www.canadacourtwatch.com/content/non-custodial-parent-tells-how-he-was-forced-poverty-and-welfare-because-family-courts
ReplyDelete2 Corinthians 11:14 But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
Isaiah 27:10-15 You have trusted in your wickedness and have said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’ Disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to conjure it away. A calamity will fall upon you that you cannot ward off with a ransom; a catastrophe you cannot foresee will suddenly come upon you. “Keep on, then, with your magic spells and with your many sorceries, which you have labored at since childhood. Perhaps you will succeed, perhaps you will cause terror. All the counsel you have received has only worn you out! Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon you. Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot even save themselves from the power of the flame. Here are no coals to warm anyone; here is no fire to sit by. That is all they can do for you—these you have labored with and trafficked with since childhood. Each of them goes on in his error; there is not one that can save you.
Isaiah 29:15 How horrible it will be for those who try to hide their plans from the LORD. Their deeds are done in the dark, and they say, "No one can see us" and "No one can recognize us."
Luke 11:52 "Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering."
Luke 6:24 But how horrible it will be for those who are rich. They have had their comfort.
Exodus 22:18 "Never let a witch live."
Psalm 109:28-29 They may curse, but you will bless; when they attack they will be put to shame, but your servant will rejoice. My accusers will be clothed with disgrace and wrapped in shame as in a cloak.
Isaiah 2:22 Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils, of what account is he?
Ezekiel 35:6 Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will give you over to bloodshed and it will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you.
Jude 1:14-19 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage... But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
Proverbs 16:8 Better to have little, with godliness, than to be rich and dishonest.
Job 27:8 For what hope has the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
Psalm 73:12 This is what the wicked are like—always carefree, they increase in wealth.
Proverbs 16:27-30 A scoundrel plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire. A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends. A violent man entices his neighbor and leads him down a path that is not good. He who winks with his eye is plotting perversity; he who purses his lips is bent on evil.
Ron; one cannot discuss the Bayne horror story without giving some attention to the ghastly Child Family and Community Services Act, which adversely affects many cases such as this.Today I write about the long chain of events which led to the conception of this dog's breakfast of an act.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started work in 1957 child protection was under the Protection of children act. Procedures were relatively simple and only one order could be made, which was indeterminate with no review process built in. A case could even be adjourned sine die, which means indefinitely. A judge or magistrate could order a child to be placed in a specific home. Long term planning was seldom considered.
Authority in the act was invested in an official called the 'superintendant of child welfare'. This official was answerable to the legislature and did not come under the authority of the duputy minister. Child protection was administered by the Catholic and Protestant children's aid societies in Vancouver and by the Victoria children's aid society in Victoria. In all other areas the administration was under the provincial services. A good deal of the Protection act was dedicated to the governance of children's aid societies and their accountability to the SCW. The Suprerintendant took a great deal of interest in each case and one had to notify that officer of each court hearing along with the parents.
In 1957 the SCW was the beautiful and charismatic Ruby McKay, who was passionate about her work and a brilliant teacher. One had to get permission to apprehend a child, which could be problematic in an emergency. The comptroller got annoyed if you showed too many long distance calls on the monthly account.
An interesting feature was that the PCA had at least 15 clauses defining the circumstances which defined when a child needed protection. However, only one subsection of one clause was ever used in my experience. Section 7 (k) "whose home by reason of neglect, cruelty or depravity is an unfit place for a child, or whose parent is unfit, unable or unwilling to care properly for him." We generally just used the last bit."or whose parent is unfit etc. I once used a different clause and was promptly invited by the judge to make his life easier by refiling under 7 (k) The reason why I mention the above is that in theory you can put whatever you like in an act, but in practice people do what is convenient. So all those debates about definitions become largely academic.
Two things happened to cause major revisions in the act and eventually to repeal it. The first was that studies in Ontario revealed that if people did not seek return of children within two years, hardly any children went home. So following Ontario's lead, B.C. introduced the power of permanent orders and freeing for adoption. When the NDP was in power,they dissolved the children's aid societies and the province took on their duties. This made most of the PCA redundant.I think that the main reason that parental rights were not emphasised in the act was that in those days most children came into care by request of the parent, or by desertion. Very few were contested and far too many children were left in abusive situations.
Anonymous 9:40 AM
ReplyDeleteI simply want readers to note that in your quotation of these scripture passages, you prefaced it all with a link to a site that speaks about a Non Custodial parent telling how he was forced into poverty and on welfare because of family courts.
Thank you Ron for pointing out the post of the 'non-custodial parent' from Canada Court Watch in my comment. I would like to guide people to the "Letters of Injustice" on that site for further reading and hopefully posting of their own stories of injustice.
ReplyDeleteDoes it really matter if this person was a custodial parent or not? I do not believe so. Clearly this person saw injustice and did what he felt was right with the children's best interests at heart...and look what happened to him just because he did the right thing.
The fact of the matter is that governments almost worldwide are forcing people into situations & into their ungodly agendas that are oppressive & destructive. We are seeing the prophecies in the Bible of the New World Order coming to pass. The Bible is one-third prophecy.
The government is supposed to promote health and welfare FOR ALL...and yet why are so many good people and their children being destroyed by those who get paid to be PUBLIC servants?
Public servants are now people who have major character flaws (wicked) themselves that are not up for discovery or justice because 'hey who wants to bite the hand that feeds it'...'who has the nerve to speak out against evil?'...
Habakkuk 1:4 The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted.
Lawyers in Canada are no different from the lawyers in the US...hell bent on making mountains out of mole hills-and all in the name of justice? Yah, right. More like all in the name of their 'power' and 'ego' and 'just because we can'....
Ecclesiastes 5:8 If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them.
This is the 'war of the ages'. Black and white, good and evil. People need to understand the ungodly know they wield power...if they didn't they wouldn't do and act the way they do. That is why we as God's children are called to bind and loose spirits.
Seems to me the godly, the righteous, those who know and live by the Spirit have left our post...and because we have wanted to remain silent and in the 'shadows' we now have massive corruption overtaking our country, laws, homes, children and lives...ALL IN THE NAME OF ??.
The ruling Spirit over politicians, lawyers and most public servants is Leviathan...in the Old Testament the Book of Job speaks of Leviathan and also the Book of Habakkuk 1:12-17.
Those with this ruling Spirit have SOME of the following characteristics, there are too many to list here...Pride of Intellect, Wordly things, power, money; idolatry/worship of self; hard-heartedness; judgmentalism; self-righteousness; putting down; gossiping; rejection & accusations of others; disrespect for Authority; confrontation; greed; corruption; bullying; lawlessness; slander; wickedness; superiority; cursing; control; unteachableness; deceitfulness; hatred; and the list goes on & on...
Matt 16:19 And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven."
1 John 4:4 Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world.
We need change so badly. The Baynes are but one family in so many who have had their children taken away for no real reason. What a bunch of heartache and what for?? Why pick on people who are good parents? Surely they should be spending the money differently.
ReplyDeleteChris Martell, I am very sorry for your loss; your son was a beautiful child, and it is easy to see from your video why he was so cherished.
ReplyDeleteYou are a brave man, doing what so desperately needs to be done, a true soldier. I wish you the very best, and thank you so much.
Thank you to you also, Ron, for bringing these stories to light.
Anon 4:18 - I realize this is beyond the point of Ron's post, but Evander was not "Taken away." He was placed in voluntary care by the family. Chris was unable to parent at the time. I don't know the details re: why the child wasn't placed with him after he returned from duty with the US military, or why he wasn't explored as an option despite the domestic violence report/charge.
ReplyDeleteThere can then be a lengthy discussion about the difference between spousal abuse and parental abuse toward a child. One occurring does not necessarily mean the other will also occur.
This is a tragic, tragic tale. The drowning is bad enough, but for the burns to be present also....heart wrenching. I truly pray Mr. Martell gets his answers such as they are.
This is what happens when the government no longer fears the people, but rather vice versa. This is the ultimate in the "nanny state." The next time you think about what you want or "need" from the government, remember, the more power you give the government, the more power it has over you. And your children.
ReplyDeleteChris, I cannot imagine the pain you feel. God bless you and family for loving that beautiful little boy. The prayers and thoughts of the entire country are with you as you fight for justice.
ReplyDeleteso the rules are "don't speak the truth". What happened to the baby in todays paper that they have ruled a homocide?
ReplyDelete