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.