I MAY BE WRONG BUT I DOUBT IT / 588

I have written about the Baynes for two years. I will stop soon. I only recently wrote several posts about Derek Hoare and his daughter Ayn. I won't need to write for him because he has an army at work for him.

The Bayne case differs remarkably from that of Derek Hoare and daughter Ayn. Bethany Bayne was removed from parental custody when she was seven weeks old. She had been injured. Her two sibling brothers were removed at the same time. Because of Bethany's injuries the Bayne case launched amid solemn suspicion that one of the parents was a child abuser. That Ministry suspicion was generated and fueled by medical opinion. RCMP investigated but dismissed the matter. MCFD's suspicion was unrelenting. Derek's daughter, nine-year old Ayn is autistic and upon her removal the hospital examination reported no evidence of harm or abuse but rather good health. Her two sibling brothers have been permitted to remain with their father. Ayn was removed from her father’s care and custody when she wandered away from her home one day as many autistic children are prone to do.

The Baynes were initially charged with a criminal offense, held overnight, and then the charges were quickly dropped and withdrawn and never pressed again. However, the suspicion lingered and suspicion as we know was and is enough to warrant the removal of a child for the protection and investigation of the family situation. Derek was suspected of nothing whatsoever apart from perhaps being overwhelmed by the care of three children, two of whom have autism. His capacity to care could have been determined by some healthy conversation with Derek rather than by removing the child. Paul and Zabeth were virtually helpless during the first year without their children, not knowing to whom to turn and where to look for help. They expended all that they had on legal representation that was ineffective and futile. They lost their house. In desperation they sought to make their story public and CBC and Global ran their stories but that was not sustained coverage and it was quickly old news. Eventually, sympathetic support groups stepped forward and so contributions were made to assist the Baynes in their fight to regain family. A noted and capable lawyer and good man, Doug Christie, took up their cause. He forever has my respect for his gift of service. During the course of time, some online coverage such as my blog became a fixture constantly calling for change to the system that manages cases with families in such a dispassionate and unfair manner.

Derek has begun similarly, with financial challenges but I think that he has already enjoyed the encouragement of the largest contingent of supporters any parent has ever had when facing a battle with an unwise and overzealous Ministry of Children. The compassionate and kindhearted global network of Autism organizations and magazines and parents have rallied to Ayn and her family in an overwhelming manner. Derek has been interviewed by a score of newspapers and radio talk show hosts and television news reporters. The injustice of the removal of a 9-year old autistic girl who loves her daddy and only responds well to him; the subsequent MCFD regimen of administered drugs to this little girl in order to control her while in foster care when she needed no drugs in her father’s care; and the objectionable waiting time for legal processing of this despicable MCFD business, is glaring and attention grabbing, and will be heard far and wide.

 

Derek will get his daughter back again, sooner than the four years it took for the Bayne children to come home. Yet once again, the ‘Best Interests of the Child,’ will have been trampled upon by stupidity and unprofessionalism.

The speed with which Derek’s case has become a public sensation led me to an early belief that perhaps this case would make politicians and MCFD personnel respond responsibly. Yet when someone recently asked me, will Ayn's case be the one that finally brings change to the system, makes the legislators finally take notice and introduce changes, I found myself answering disappointingly, “I doubt it.”

And yet I still hold out the unsubstantiated hope that one, two or more people with clout will recognize the need, accept the political risk, take on the challenge and work until change is affected. It would be uplifting if those people could include Premier Clark and Minister of Children Mary McNeil. 

Please contact Derek Hoare directly at 

Derek Hoare iconoclast_ensues@yahoo.com 904-HELP AYN 904-435-7296