THE SURREY SIX TRIAL - ATTENTION TO THE INNOCENTS

A CTV Image of Mohan and Schellenberg

THE SURREY SIX TRIAL

The murder trial begins today, six years after the crime. Six years is a long time to wait. It’s a long time for the families of two innocent men to wait for justice to prevail within our system of law. The case is popularized as the Surrey Six because six victims were found dead in an apartment suite. Four of the victims, Edward Narong, 22, Corey Lal, 21, his brother Michael Lal, 26, and Ryan Bartolomeo, 19 were the intended targets in a drug related turf war. Christopher Mohan was 22-year-old student who lived nearby and 55 year old Ed Shellenberg was doing routine furnace work in the building. They were in the wrong place when evil went down.

I WILL ANNOUNCE AYN'S RETURN - BUT FOR NOW I'M DONE

Dear Amie, Derek, advocacy colleagues and friends,
I will stay tuned to learn that Ayn has been returned home. I applaud those of you who have already made supportive inputs to the Van Dyk/Hoare cause.  Do keep up your good work. For personal reasons I myself am withdrawing as an active participant. I believe the case is resolving gradually. Ayn belongs with her family.

This announcement means that for the foreseeable future I will not be using the GPS blog to speak to Ministry of Children and Family Development issues. I am satisfied that from 2009-2013 it was useful in making the public aware and in alerting officials to genuine concerns about case management, specifically with respect to Zabeth and Paul Bayne and their four children who were separated from one another for four years, 2007-2011, and latterly Amie Van Dyk and Derek Hoare whose autistic daughter Ayn, has been removed from them and her two brothers since June 2011. Her case has been well documented over the past two years on this blog site. I believe that MCFD will within months return Ayn to her family.

Thank you for following the stories here. Come back. Other stories will come up.

DEMOCRACY, PARENTAL AUTONOMY, CAREGIVING

We applaud our democracy. Within this democracy autonomy is descriptive of parental rights to decide for their children all that pertains to educational opportunities, religious heritage, discipline, cultural and recreational activities. Parents possess substantial rights as well as responsibilities with regard to the care of their children.

SUSPENDED VISIT ARE NOW RESUMING - COURT DATE TUES 24TH

On Monday 22nd Sept 2013, Amie Van Dyk wrote the comment of a mom who has waited a long time to visit with a daughter who is still a little girl. Her daughter was taken into the custody of the Ministry of Children in British Columbia on June 16, 2011. That’s a long time isn’t it?

IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE FAMILY IS BEING DECONSTRUCTED? (part 3 of 3)

Do you think this is happening, that is, the deconstruction of the family in the name of promoting the welfare and safety of the child? Is it unreasonable to pose this question? Does it sound like the query of a paranoid author? I don’t see it as an irrational question because I am no longer a young parent with young children but I am a concerned observer of societal and governmental behaviour.

The legal rights of families and parents are being redefined under our noses.

FAMILY AUTONOMY IN LIGHT OF THE CHARTER OF RIGHTS (part 2 of 3)

Are ‘human freedom’ and ‘human dignity,’ values that we want to preserve here in Canada? Do I hear a unanimous and audacious “YES!” Do we want to preserved them here in British Columbia?

If so, then why? I can venture an answer. Because among other benefits that family autonomy achieves for us in a free society, are diversity, variety, and multiplicity. Don’t tell me that these are not important to us, to you. Few of us are enchanted by sameness.

FAMILY AUTONOMY, CHILD PROTECTION & PARENTAL RIGHTS (part 1 of 3)

The family is the primary social institution. The family is the primary conservator and transmitter of values, beliefs and traditions. Conservation of family autonomy should be among the most important objectives of provincial and federal governments. This commitment must become evident to Members of the Legislative Assembly of B.C. and to the Ministry of Children and Family Development and to Educators and to Law Enforcement that any intervention into family is like an invasion into its sanctity because it endangers family customs and ideals? Furthermore, parental liberty is fundamental to the concept and function of family.

IS MCFD'S CONDUCT OF THE AYN VAN DYK CASE TANTAMOUNT TO 'CHILD ABUSE'?

THE QUESTION APPLIES TO
WRONGFUL REMOVAL TOO

This is with respect to the case of Ayn Van Dyk, the 11 year old autistic girl who has been separated from her mom and dad by the MCFD for over two years in foster care, a case about which I have made numerous blog comments during that time.

A QUESTION WAS PUT TO ME TODAY: "Considering all that MCFD has done, and considering that all of us here - from a very wide variety of backgrounds, etc. - find the treatment of Ayn appalling, do either of you consider what has been done to Ayn "child abuse"? I know I do."

RAY FERRIS TO TIMES COLONIST AND MPPs

A letter from Ray Ferris - Written to the Times Colonist  

Ray Ferris is a retired child-protection worker and the author ofThe Art of Child Protection.

"You report another child welfare horror story. Such professional incompetence is entrenched and institutionalized in British Columbia and many other child welfare jurisdictions. The Internet is rife with horror stories. Ian Mulgrew of the Vancouver Sun recently covered a case that cost an estimated two to three million dollars before the children’s ministry withdrew from the case and returned the children to the mother. Anyone can read the scathing judgement here.

WHAT WE GET FOR WHAT WE GIVE

We pay good money to operate a government for the people.

We pay our taxes, all of us do, as citizens of the commonwealth, the federal government of Canada, and the British Columbia government for a province that we call home. We love it here and together we are the people.

Our expectations are routine enough. We want reliable representation by ordinary people standing in on our behalf to create and manage respectable law and policy to service people and the communities in which we live.

We value statements by government agencies that have the sound of credibility such as “In the best interests of children.” We believe innocently, naively that all agencies mean what they say, or that all employees within them, operate with authenticity.

Then something like this happens.

CANADA'S TOP JUDGE SLAMS 'INACCESSIBLE JUSTICE'

The CBA is the largest national lawyer association in Canada. It represents 37,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers and students. Its annual conference was held at the end of August 2013 in Saskatoon, and special invitees and speakers were Chief Justice of Canada Beverley McLachlin, Justice Minister Peter MacKay and CBC's Peter Mansbridge.

Delegates at the annual meeting of the Canadian Bar Association conference in Saskatoon (CBA) were discussing the merits of several proposed legal reforms, some of which derive from a new 54 page report by the CBA, titled Reaching Equal Justice, which was released at conference. The report pointed to severely unequal access to justice in Canada.

Beverly McLachlin, Chief Justice 
the Supreme Court of Canada, ' 
(Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)

Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin then spoke to this concern, saying that ensuring that Canadians are able to access the system, is the most pressing challenge facing the administration of justice in this country. She conveyed that peoples' lives are being ruined when they can't get access to justice. McLachlin said, "We know that there are a lot of needs. People just swallow their pain and their loss and live with it, I guess, in some unsatisfactory way feeling they can't get justice."

MORE FROM FERRIS ON JUSTICE WALKER'S STUNNING VERDICT

You will need to refer back several blog posts to catch the significance of the court case that has captured Ray Ferris's attention. The judge ruled against a father who he said had abused his children, and roundly faulted MCFD for believing him and getting it so wrong, and awarded the children to the mother. Now she is suing MCFD. Listen to Ferris below ... By the way, he is a colleague advocate for change to MCFD and for justice to the improperly treated.

SOCIAL WORKER GETS JAIL TIME

In view of Ray Ferris' attention to a specific case in previous posts here, and given the example of Justice Paul W. Walker's displeasure with social workers' inadequate case management, perhaps other judges will also conclude that MCFD exercises a mandate that is at times unrestrained and unchallenged.

In this video clip depicting the decision of a Kentucky judge sentencing a social worker to 5 years of hard time because she filed false reports concerning children, parents and families, there is a powerful implication that immunity cannot be assumed by social workers performing their work with incompetence or carelessness.

Here, the misdemeanour was dishonesty that put children at risk by leaving them within abusive homes or parental custody.

I am confident that unless British Columbia social workers become more eager to return children who have been removed unnecessarily or at least retained for unreasonably long times, they too will at some point in the near future find themselves facing charges and jail time and compensatory penalties. Public awareness reaches judges as well.

MCFD IS BEING SUED

Ian Mulgrew

Pertaining to the Judge Walker case previously discussed, please be informed that a lawsuit is being presented and adjudicated against the Ministry of Children. Details can be found in this story by Ian Mulgrew.

Quoting Mr. Mulgrew

"The trial has been in Phase 2 since April 10, with the judge hearing the mother’s claims of public malfeasance, bad faith and abuse in care against the ministry to determine liability and damages.This has been going on for three weeks and there are at least another three to go. Legal fees and court costs total between $2 million and $3 million, Hittrich estimated.This is an ugly indictment of the ministry and calls out for an investigation by the Representative of Children and Youth. Aside from the liability issues, there is a serious question about how this happened and why it took so long to resolve."

Ray Ferris again on the Justice Walker report

This a commentary from Ray Ferris with whom I have a working relationship when advocating for parents and families whom we have identified as recipients of unwarranted assertions or unreasonable treatment. I respect Ray’s familiarity with case law, the child protection Act and what represents fair case work. You will find occasional blog entries on this site which are written by Ray. This piece continues his recent reporting of a case on which Justice Paul Walker dressed down social workers and made a key judgement. Mr. Justice Paul W. Walker (Vancouver) was appointed to Supreme Court June 18, 2008. Walker has been a partner with Guild, Yule and Company LLP since 1984.

THE WAY I SEE AYN VAN DYK'S CASE

We are all waiting for her return, none more apprehensively than Amie Van Dyk and her ex husband Derek Hoare. They are the parents of Ayn Van Dyk, the twelve-year old autistic child who innocently meandered from her family back yard in 2011. Ayn was ten years old at that time. Even Ayn with imperfect cognitive capability would have reasoned to stay in her own back yard had she known that the consequence would be her removal from her family for over two years.

Amie and Derek have been informed some months ago that they can expect Ayn to be returned to them some time during the month of September 2013.

Ayn was ten years old when she scaled a fence that surrounded the back yard. She was not affecting a prison break. She was not violating a community standard. She was not disrupting anyone’s peace, although she did cost the taxpayer some money because of the urgently placed 911 call from her father summoning the help of RCMP who sent a helicopter into the Abbotsford skies to locate his child. Even Derek with his anxious parental response would have reasoned to summon friends instead of RCMP had he known that the outcome would be the agony of separation from his daughter for most of these past two years.

VIDEO OF AYN IN HER FOSTER HOME

A few months after Ayn Van Dyk was removed from her father's care in June 2011, she was placed with a good foster family. They prepared this video at that time so that Ayn could communicate in a playful way with her father Derek. It is a pleasing video and it was a kind gesture by foster parents. 

Ayn is 12 years of age. She is autistic. She can be difficult to manage, although from this video you might question that. Nonetheless, she has been in the past, difficult for school staff. Always however, her father Derek was capable of calming her via conversation and non medical intervention. Under the care of the Ministry and doctors who treat her now, medication is assisting her behaviour.

OF COURSE, CRITICS CALL FOR CHANGES

For years sympathizers with the Bayne family dominated the readership of this blog site. Then I took a break but began again to write about Ayn Van Dyk, autistic 12 year old removed from her family to undergo assessment and investigate her family life. This was occasioned by her afternoon skip over the family fence and a wander down the street. She could not be found for three hours. Other readers, occasional and curious take a peek. Some with vested interest in the Ministry of Children browse as well. Be assured that the parents and advocates of child protection reform who comment here are not a small troublesome faction of uninformed complainers.

Critics exist across Canada and in enlightened countries around the world. Critics are calling for greater accountability for the child protection segment of child welfare. That is what must be understood and processed by responsible parties.

Please hear me say that I believe child protection agencies do serve a vital function to safeguard children. Note that I am saying just as emphatically that child protection departments overstep their mandate.

TO WHOM CAN YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT MCFD?

I would like to know whether any of you who are reading today, have had occasion formally to make a complaint about the ministry. We are told that this is possible. When you have concerns about the care of your child in the foster care program or a concern about a social worker, you are entitled to make this complaint known. Have you ever done this? When it is a complaint about a social worker or when you cannot make contact with the SW, you are encouraged to speak with that SW's supervisor. Of course, to do that, you may have to ask the social worker for the name and phone number of their supervisor. Has that worked? And of course you can write a letter of your concern directly to the social worker with a copy to the supervisor and request reconsideration of a decision or action. Have you done this? Beyond that, the Ministry of Children does have a complaint resolution process for which you may call at no charge to 1-877-387-7027 asking for the dispute resolution consultant in your area. Have you tried that and if so, how did it go? When that is unhelpful, you can call the Board of Registration for Social Workers of BC. Their phone number is (604) 737-4916 (in Vancouver). If the social worker is registered with that board, you can file a complaint with them. Some people turn to their MLA, elected representative (Member of the Legislative Assembly). Have you done this? You might contact your Ombudsman if you are getting help nowhere else, by calling (250) 387-5855 (in Victoria) or 1-800-567-3247 (elsewhere in BC; call no charge). You may ask for this help. Have you called that number? When your complaint is about the care being received in a foster situation by your child, call the Representative for Children and Youth of BC. The phone number is (250) 356-0831 (in Victoria) or 1-800-476-3933 (elsewhere in BC; call no charge). E-mail them at cyo@gov.bc.ca.


(If you missed the now archived piece, catch Ray Ferris's comment on this same theme.)  If it's as bleak as Ray described it, we are in a deep hole.

DOES MCFD REQUIRE REFORM - MANY THINK SO

I know that I rarely write about positive achievements of the child protection sector of the Ministry of Children and Family Development. Of course there are children that are secured from neglect and abuse. Sadly some parents are immature, reckless, substance addicted, or maladjusted and they are not properly caring for their children. MCFD steps in. Surely it is reasonable if I do not mention these cases. That is afte all what MCFD is mandated to do. When the work is well done it doesn't need applause here on this blog. MCFD congratulates itself. Look at its web pages. This blog has focused upon that which is not working effectively in MCFD because that is what requires attention. That's what needs to be fixed so that is where I concentrate. I make no claim to exhaustive journalistic research. I am a listener to real people. A crowd of similar stories informs me that MCFD is in trouble.