This case with its complexities and
inhumanities is being followed across the provinces of Canada.
In order to come to his decision he
allowed himself six months which began at the conclusion of the trial
proper in September after a year of court time spread sporadically
across the months. Taking this amount of time, the speculation is
that His Honour will do more than speak to the Bayne family status
but as well, address the operations of a regional branch of child
protection as it is administered by the Ministry of Children and
Family Development. Or he may go beyond that to speak to the Child,
Family and Community Services Act which propels so many social
workers into the homes of B.C. families to interrupt them, fail to
develop them, confuse them, render them broken and broke. If he were
to do that, that would become headlines as large as the B.C. Rail
Sale. To do that, Judge Crabtree would have to be one of the bravest
men in B.C. public life. If he does this, he will inspire within the
legal community an invigorated respect for honourable leadership. He
is after all the new Chief Justice of British Columbia. If he does
this, we may once again make a serious attempt to rectify the
inflammatory and deconstructive aspects of the Act and the
insensitivity of its delivery. There might be a hope for change. The
new Liberal premier may recognize this important area of redress.
Another post at 11:00 am
Information about making a donation to the Bayne Trust Fund here.
"There is no refuge from memory and remorse in this world. The spirits of our foolish deeds haunt us, with or without repentance."Gilbert Parker
Ron thank you for such a good blog today. Now for a miscellany of matters.
ReplyDeleteA correspondent asked that if the judge returns the kids, will they go home at once, or can Bruce McNill still jerk them around? The answer to that one is that the judge has the power here and what he orders must be followed as closely as is possible. The judge does, of necessity, have powers of discretion to be flexible.This is to allow him to take immediate circumstances into consideration in order to serve the best interests of the family. For instance he might ask the Baynes what day would suit them the best and postpone it or a day or two. Whatever he decides is what must be done.
Secondly, I want to emphasise that Thursday's court was not a futile waste of time. A strong statement was made that many British Columbians care deeply about social justice in the child protection system and they are prepared to go to a lot of trouble to make a statement about the injustice that is so obvious in the Bayne case. There are thousands of blog readers and many writers who feel the same way. Nothing futile about that.
My next topic "the best interests of a child". This is a matter of opinion and depends on good judgement. For the director the best interests means keeping young children in limbo for three and a half years on one piece of shaky evidence. It means snatching a newborn from a mother's breast where it was perfectly safe. He did not believe for a minute that the child was at risk. He did it in a stupid attempt to justify what he had done to the other children. As for Judge Arthur-Leung, she chickened out completely. She decided along with McNeill that the best interests of the child demanded snatching him from a mother's arms and putting him in a foster home. If she had looked at the tender care given to Josiah by Paul and Zabeth during his stay in hospital and the mother's determination to breast feed, she would know that there was no risk to that child and interim custody could go to the parents. She was scared to make a ruling and involve herself, so she maintained the status quo and tried to convince herself that it was in the "best interests", although all the people crowding the court room knew that this was nonsense. Indifferent judges again. No Portias in this province.
A HAPPY DAY
ReplyDeleteEvery Ssturday morning it cheers me up to know that Paul and Zabeth Bayne will have all their children together in their own home for six hours. For six hours there will be an oasis of happiness in the desert heartache that the director has imposed on them. I think of those lovely pictures of the family spending that precious time together. Can anyone in their right mind look at those pictures and imagine for one minute that these people could harm a child? I also wonder if the director grinds his teeth every Saturday morning, remembering that Judge Crabtree thwarted his attempts to ruin those happy occasions.
And Ray, Zabeth told me today that Josiah is coming together with Kent, Baden and Bethany. Bethany may have got a bit of the cold that Kent had this week, so it remains to be seen whether she will be there. But Zabeth was thrilled that her whole family might be there, beautiful and yet pathetic in a way, right, that this is abnormal for them?
ReplyDeleteWhat is so remarkable is how these parents, Paul and Zabeth Bayne, have carried themselves. They haven't been beaten, by any means, because their goodness and graciousness still shines through. I believe their family will be re-united, and if it is not, there will be massive outrage.
ReplyDeleteAnd the fact that all those people took time from their day to go and support the Baynes at court sends a very strong message to the judge, because she knows that if that many people are protesting and showing support, it's only a matter of time before a media firestorm ensues. She wants to be part of the status quo which can so easily rip families apart, but she's also afraid of democracy.
I will be thinking of you on this day, and sending my best wishes for a fair decision!
ReplyDeleteGood luck and hug,
~ Olga