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.

DEFENDING PARENTAL FREEDOM

We have academically agreed that both state and family have roles and bear responsibility. What is the appropriate role of family within a free and democratic society? What is the appropriate role of the government with respect to families? The questions are multi-faceted because of our numerous divisions of governance, local, federal and provincial, and our legal systems and law enforcement.

Tensions subsist within our government and the sectors that comprise it when it comes to converting theory into practice. The discussions surrounding these questions has become increasingly louder with each questionable and contested administration of government intervention into family affairs.

BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD / 552

The concept of the ‘best interests of the child’ is a universal theme expressed in a variety of international and Canadian instruments of law and practice. But is it anything more than a theme? Does it actually have content? I am not certain that it does. It is cited with conviction in child protection care proceedings and custody battles but why? Such cases are never decided on the basis of that theme but rather the specific facts of the case. The concept of “best interests” is a part of the rhetoric of child protection agencies.

The deficit is that the modifier “best’ is not defined, in fact perhaps indefinable. Even the touted United National Committee on the Rights of a Child has not taken a position to define the term with precision. Without a definition, “best interests” has no constraints, and then while the trumpeted term sounds politically and morally correct, it can lead to wrong impressions, inaccurate assessments and unjust decisions.

DOROTHY AND BOBBY DON'T HAVE THEIR CHILDREN / 477

Dorothy Rodgers' children removed

I get it. I was a responsible father and I am a trustworthy grandfather. I understand that children must be protected, sometimes from their own parent(s).

I detest when children are maltreated by a parent. A father escorted his two small sons to school. I saw him at a distance angry with one boy. I heard him screaming at the child. “Look at me,” repeated several times. The tone so enraged I made certain he saw me watching, thinking. “If he strikes the child, I am obliged by law to report him, a stranger to me. One call, anonymously spoken, like an offshore earthquake, could change that family's world. They kept walking silently.

• Between 70,000 and 85,000 children are in state care across Canada
• Since 1998, the number of children in care has increased up to 65%
• Average number of placements for a foster child: 7
• 50% of street children were formerly children in care

“I don't deserve this and the kids, they didn't do anything wrong either," she said.