An opinion by Ray Ferris, my advocacy colleague, an experienced former
Ministry of Children social worker and author of 'The Art of Child
Protection." Contact the author to order a copy of his
book, rtferris@telus.net.
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| CTV Image / the 2 yr old Metis girl known only as S.S. |
The story of the foster
parents trying to adopt a child is a classic example of conflict between the
different rights of children. Children’s rights are set out in the CFCSA.
Children’s best interests are paramount and include the right to continuity of
care. The right to kinship contact, kinship placement timely decision making
and cultural preservation.
No
individual right is paramount, but some rights become more important as time
passes and conflicts can occur. It is then that a balance between rights must
be sought requiring good judgement. Unfortunately, good judgement seems to be a
scarce commodity in this ministry. They will often treat one right as paramount
inappropriately. They use right to privacy to shroud everything in secrecy,
sometimes withholding information from people with a need and right to know.
Often they form a plan, but take so long to implement it that it becomes
redundant, but they do not reassess things.
