Saturday, February 26, 2011

THURSDAY-COURTROOM REPORT - Installment #8/ Part 457 / For Love and For Justice / Zabeth and Paul Bayne

Josiah, hours old and being bathed
Mr. Humeny is the social worker out of Hope, B.C. who has been associated with the Bayne case from its inception in 2007. Loren Humeny once again identified himself as the delegate of the director under section 92 of the Child, Family and Community Services Act, responsible for the written report (affidavit) which was submitted to the court as grounds for the apprehension of two week old Josiah Bayne. He cited as well the names of Kim Tran (MCFD social worker), Andrea Johnston, and Beth Preston (hospital social worker) and then Paul and Zabeth Bayne. Kim Tran is the Surrey social worker charged with the responsibility of removing Josiah from the hospital and placing him in the same foster home where his three siblings presently reside.

For his report Mr. Humeny did not present one reference that was immediately or directly applicable to the baby's relationship with his parents Paul and Zabeth during the two weeks of this baby's life. That is this affidavit contained nothing of substance that was new. Rather, risk was inferred, implied as inherent to the family situation in which the Baynes find themselves. It was this to which counsel Doug Christie took issue Thursday in a packed court room before Judge Kimberly Arthur-Leung. The entire two pages of the composition segment of the report referenced exclusively the details of the Ministry's active care dispute with the Baynes relative to their daughter's injuries in 2007 which the Baynes cited as accidental and a doctor assessed as shaken baby. It was on the basis of that unsubstantiated diagnosis that the two boys as well as the daughter were removed from the parents in 2007. The divide between Ministry and Paul and Zabeth has been widening throughout the 3.5 years that MCFD has retained the children and the parents have maintained their innocence of any wrongdoing.

Mr. Humeny's report then mentioned that during the course of the 2010 trial year, Zabeth became pregnant with their fourth child and the parents did not inform the Ministry. He cited as a negligence the fact that the Baynes did not report the pregnancy to MCFD. I fail to find a statute or regulation that requires this. Further, Mr. Humeny mentioned that the Baynes have refused to participate in a parental capacity assessment, yet to anyone's knowledge we have not in B.C. yet come to the place where one is required to pass a test to become a parent. He also wrote that before the pregnancy they refused to take advantage of support services offered by the Ministry, when in fact, no specific services which MCFD might have deemed to be beneficial to the Baynes was ever stipulated or offered. Mr. Humeny then stated that after the pregnancy, the Baynes refused to meet Ministry to collaborate about a plan for the safety and protection of the baby. He didn't point out that these entreaties were made during the closing weeks of her pregnancy when as in the previous three pregnancies, she was vulnerable to premature birth. He did not say that the continued overtures and threats of MCFD seizure of the child presented unnecessary stress upon Zabeth and that her advisors counselled her not to participate in such meetings that might induce that prematurity.

Paul holding his new son
He then wrote that the MCFD placed an alert on the province wide protection system with regard to the director's concerns and that he, Loren Humeny should be notified if a newborn was delivered by Zabeth Bayne. Royal Columbia Hospital confirmed that Josiah was born at 6:46 am on February 10th, 2011. Several hours later, Mr. Humeny, Kim Tran and Ms Preston disclosed to the Baynes that the baby would be removed as soon he was discharged from hospital.

8 comments:

  1. See how far bureaucratic law extends! We will see if it supersedes Provincial law. There should be many hearts trembling in this province.
    Are there any fundraiser professional types among this blog readership? Exceptionally qualified people are worn and spending their energy, time and resources without renumeration. So also, there's the Bayne dilemna of finance. This isn't good. A trust fund is set up but is without specific plans for fundraising that we have heard about so . . . Who knows how to rev this fundraising up several notches?
    Thanks Ron for your time and energy supporting friends and principle.

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  2. I think a well crafted letter, followed by phone call, in order to set up a meeting with a potential donor or donors might be one way to approach fundraising, but I'm no expert. Sometimes it's just a matter of doing the legwork, grinding away at it. If the right people were targeted, there could be some prospect of success with respect to fundraising.

    Here's an example of how funds might be raised.

    http://www.parentalrights.org/index.asp?SEC={1BC4FCCD-7A39-4990-BE36-8FFD88003D5F}&Type=B_BASIC

    If we can find a way to let credit card payments be accepted, we will have made great headway, as it is much easier to get people to make a credit card donation than it is to get them to make a trip to the bank, or even to write a cheque.

    Another advantage of credit card payments is that monthly payments can be set up. If you get 100 people donating $10 / month, that's $1,000.00 / month, $12,000.00 / year. If you keep on working at it, and get 1,000 people donating $10 / month, that's $10,000.00 / month, and $112,000.00 / year.

    After the Bayne's case is resolved, there will be - and there are - other families who need assistance. It would be nice to support them as well. And once the lawyers see that they can make money defending parents under attack by MCFD, things could really turn around.

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  3. Has anyone confirmed if Kim Tran is indeed a social worker, or if she is employed by MCFD in some other capacity?

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  4. I posted a comment earlier regarding the callousness of government employees with respect to their demeanour in such tragic, solemn circumstances. By chance, I came across this posting on another website, which illustrates that this callousness in not confined to the Surrey court room:


    -----------------------

    Inquiry into disabled girl's death begins - Wednesday, January 19, 2011
    Comment from a Women in a E-mail..Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2011 21:35:10 -0500

    Children's lives can be easily erased. Like that of a little girl name Samantha Martin. It is absolutely horrific to witness today a criminal lawyer, and the Family Services lawyer acting like it was a big joke, a big party. For a few exception the people in the court room lost their humanity. As for the foster parents they were laughing as well. The sister, the foster mother, the foster father, and their nanny sat together in second row, their daughter sat by herself in the last row, with a worker from family services. Please pray for the Martin Family! Scroll down to see article in paper.

    Linda


    ---------------------

    Here is the website with that comment (above) and the article the comment refers to:

    http://www.fathers.ca/FEATUREDSTORIES/POLICESTATEINTHENEWS/ChildProtectionRacket.aspx


    And here is an excerpt regarding Samantha Martin, and the protest at the courthouse:


    "...A fatality inquiry into the death of a severely disabled 13-year-old girl is so emotionally charged that it drew placard-carrying activists all the way from Ontario to an Edmonton courtroom Monday. “We’re here for Samantha,” said Linda Plourde of Protecting Canadian Children, a group that advocates for kids who are wards of the state. “Her story is all over the Internet.”

    Somehow, Plourde and Margaret Steiss managed to carry several placards and banners with Samantha Martin’s picture into the courtroom before sheriffs ordered the women to take them out of the building.

    “Why aren’t you protecting the children?” Plourde demanded of the sheriffs...."

    Why indeed.

    Protecting Canadian Children
    http://protectingcanadianchildren.ca/

    About US


    "... I will never forget as long as I live the horrific, cruel, and callous scene I saw the first time I set foot in the Children's Aid office. In no time at all you become suicidal; you simply cannot bear the pain. I was in hell! I became an eyewitness to the failure of humanity in our good country. The disastrous hell of the Children's Aid can no longer be ignored by the government, and by the people. This is not only my account, nor a study, or research of the breakdown of Children's Aid. This is real! This is about humans who are entrusted with helping families; instead, I watched people in control feed on the blood of the children who they were there to protect. I have watched with horror and frustration the passive, immoral attitude toward innocent families who desperately stand on their own like the Martin Family, and many others. I have witnessed firsthand what our Child Protective Services have become. It's toxic. In my opinion I feel we have now a third world war with Children's Aid..."

    ReplyDelete
  5. If there is anyone out there who supports the Bayne family and wants to help them and perhaps other parents, and who also has the ability to process credit card payments (e.g., if you have a retail business), please come forward.

    If this blog and the Bayne's facebook page let people know they could make monthly, or even an individual, credit card donation, it would surely help the fundraising efforts.

    ReplyDelete
  6. TO Anon 2:38 PM
    Ministry of Children and Family Development, Office of the Chief Operating Officer, Integrated Policy and Legislation,
    XNA Assistant Deputy Minister: Randi Mjolsness.
    Executive Administrative Assistant: Kim C Tran

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  7. It appears Kim Tran is listed as a registered social worker on the College of Social worker's website. This is good news, because this provides a path of accountability for the Baynes should it become necessary. If this debacle continues to carry on, the Baynes can restrict their cooperation to this individual and demand Loren get lost. Really, the guy is cyanide.

    What kind of fiscal or common sense does it make to pay a guy that lives in Chilliwack 3-hours round-trip drive away to come into Surrey to do a job that a local social worker could do? It makes one wonder how many similar situation exist.

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  8. What I would have done if I was them was to have my baby in secret, out of the province,where they wouldn't be on "alert", under their radar,and had a homebirth, not at a hospital that would have informed the authorities.I would have not only not informed them I would have kept it hidden.

    ReplyDelete

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