THE PUBLIC MUST NOT IGNORE OR FORGET THIS CASE.

Lawyer, Jack Hittrich, J.P. in background; photo:  Mark Yuen/Vancouver Sun     

Her children were being sexually abused by their dad, and the MCFD would not believe her but treated her as unstable and non credible. MCFD botched it. Enter Lawyer Jack Hittrich who represented mom (J.P). The judge ruled in favour of mom against the ministry of children. After the first trial and ruling, MCFD ignored a court order, giving dad unsupervised access. Mom sued MCFD because its misfeasance resulted in her infant child being sexually assaulted by their father. The Judge ruled in mom's favour again, with a damning judgment against to the MCFD. All that remained was payment of a sum yet to be determined. Alarmed by this public whipping, both MCFD Minister and the Provincial Premier made a predictable promise of a Review of the system that allowed this. The government selected Bob Plecas who is capable of objectivity but is hardly an outsider. But here is the most reprehensible recent step. The government is appealing the Judge's ruling. This case has been dissected completely and this family has been dragged through the emotional mess for four years. Instead of doing the right thing, the government is appealing. Mom will wait, perhaps years more. There is almost no end to the money MCFD and the government can pour into its avoidance and denial.

I have been following this story, writing occasionally but I wouldn't be able to write the story with its disgusting details, any better than the acclaimed Vancouver Sun columnist Ian Mulgrew. With deep respect for him and for the Vancouver Sun's determination to tell truth, I will present Mulgrew's August 14th, 2015 in its entirety. It's entitled,  

PROVINCE TO APPEAL JUDGMENTS ACCUSING SOCIAL WORKERS OF NEGLIGENCE

Mom of abused kids caught in middle of what appears to be an all-out brawl

BY IAN MULGREW, VANCOUVER SUN COLUMNIST AUGUST 14, 2015

Jack Hittrich is the lawyer representing a 42-year-old woman known only as J.P. who was in the midst of a nasty divorce when her four children were seized. The province is appealing a decision that found child welfare workers in the case were negligent. File photo.

Photograph by: Mark Yuen/Vancouver Sun , Vancouver Sun

The B.C. Ministry of Children and Family Development has all but declared war on the mom at the centre of scathing court rulings hammering social workers.

The provincial government wants to prevent a cost award in the scandalous six-year-old case until it has a chance to impugn the judge’s fact-finding and reasoning.

While Minister Stephanie Cadieux maintains the family isn’t the focus of her damage control, the mom was told in a letter sent Wednesday that pretty well everything Justice Paul Walker said in his blistering decisions will be disputed.

“I expect there will be grounds of appeal that put in issue the factual and legal foundation of Justice Walker’s liability findings, including bad faith, breach of fiduciary duty, special costs, etc.,” wrote government lawyer Karen Horsman in correspondence provided to The Sun.

She added, “the province disagrees with these findings and this will be a subject matter of the appeal.”

Victoria, Horsman said, wants to “defer a further damages trial before Mr. Justice Walker pending the conclusion of the province’s appeal.”

That now looks like it is going to be an all-out-knock-’em-down-and-drag-’em-out brawl.

Justice Walker savaged the ministry’s handling of a high conflict 2009 divorce involving four children and horrendous accusations of sex abuse against the father.

Given her ordeal, the 42-year-old mother known only as J.P. called the government “sadistic” for appealing the finding that child welfare workers ignored and misled the courts, allowing the dad unsupervised access to the kids enabling the abuse.

Initially, Cadieux said only that the judge had raised issues of “general importance for child protection” that required clarification by the Court of Appeal.

The mom’s Surrey lawyer, Jack Hittrich, said the most recent letter makes clear the entire judgment is being attacked.

The mom is devastated the emotionally draining battle will continue and hamper recovery for her children — seized in Dec. 2009 and returned to her only two-and-a-half-years later when the ministry recognized its mistake.

Justice Walker concluded ministry workers tainted a police investigation by inaccurately portraying the mother as mentally ill and “lost sight of their duties, professionalism and their objectivity.”

It was a landmark judgment that stripped them of the legal protection from liability normally enjoyed by social workers making discretionary decisions in good faith.

Although the disturbing findings were made three years ago, Justice Walker’s ruling last month on liability attracted public attention and spurred Cadieux to appoint retired longtime deputy minister Bob Plecas to conduct a review.

But that is turning into as much of a debacle as the controversial 2012 health ministry firings now under investigation by the ombudsman.

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has launched an investigation into concerns about material the government may disclose to Plecas.

With that issue in mind, Cadieux made Plecas a “director” of child welfare — a position that legally permits him access to sensitive files such as J.P.’s but made her think as a ministry director he was not independent.

In his first contact, a letter also dated Wednesday, Plecas recognized “the strain this must place on the family.”

“The review will look at the case as a way to try to find systemic problems where I can make recommendations,” assured the man who helped design the ministry in the 1990s.

The Representative for Children and Youth, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, who has criticized the handling of the case, “cannot proceed” with her own investigation, Plecas said, until his review is complete and “one year has passed after a critical incident.”

She can review and comment on his work “down the road.”

Earlier, Turpel-Lafond, who has followed the case since 2011, rebuffed Plecas’s invitation to meet.

Hittrich, too, said neither he nor the mom will meet with Plecas and that he will reply to the letter by asking Plecas to postpone his review until the appeal is decided.

He is considering seeking an injunction if necessary to quash the review until after the appeal as it looks like a collateral assault on the judgments.

“The Court of Appeal decision by the province complicates this issue, and, of course, I will proceed with caution,” Plecas promised in his letter.

“However, I accepted the appointment believing, that enough time has escaped, and learning and understanding what happened needs to be captured …. If from this tragic situation I can make a few recommendations that saves one child’s life, or prevent another similar case from happening, I will consider my review to be successful.”

Plecas, who provided his home phone number, plans to file a report by Oct 13.

Best intentions aside, this appears to be another gong show — a fortune in costs and legal fees going down the drain to deal with a human resources issue exacerbated by a civil service culture with an aversion to accountability.

The government’s action looks more motivated to protect bureaucrats rather than by a desire to do the right thing: Circling the wagons instead of helping victims become whole again — regardless of the cost to taxpayers, or this mom and her kids.

imulgrew@vancouversun.com

PAUL WALKER JUDGEMENT & Hon. Stephanie Cadieux’s Promise

* by Ray Ferris, Guest Author

Two things immediately strike me as being of interest following the scathing Paul Walker judgement. First it looks as if they intend to hang the social workers out to dry and blame it all on them. Do they imagine we don’t know that the social workers act under strict direction and many people higher up the ladder were involved in this case. One cannot spend the millions that the protection trial cost and the many more that the misfeasance trial cost without authorization from a very high level. Nor did the social workers have the authority to abruptly fold the case on day 66.

DAY FOUR IN THE SURREY SIX MURDER CASE

Day Four, Thursday Oct 3rd, 2013 in the Surrey Six Murder trial is accounted by journalist Kim Bolan in an article entitled, 'Landlord inspected 1505 six days before the Surrey Six murders'. The suite was a rental and prosecution submits it was a stash house for a drug gang.

She writes: The owner of suite 1505 in Surrey’s Balmoral Tower testified Thursday that he kicked out a suspected drug dealer but then let the tenant’s friend and her boyfriend move in. Ceasar Tiojanco told Justice Catherine Wedge that he evicted tenant Sean Corbett in early 2007 after the building managers told him Corbett had a grow-op in another apartment. “Since the manager notified me about the involvement in illegal activity, I told him he has to move out,” Tiojanco testified on day four of the Surrey Six murder trial. “And then he introduced me to Desiree who he said is a good person and would be good to take over the tenancy and I agreed.” Six people, including innocent bystanders Ed Schellenberg and Chris Mohan, were shot to death in Tiojanco’s suite on Oct. 19, 2007."

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.

MEDIA HAVE HELPED IN THE PAST AND MAY AGAIN

Since we have learned that Ayn will be coming home to her family, the media is asking for opportunity to consult with Derek Hoare. None of us know full details of the agreement that has been reached with the Ministry of Children and Family Development. When the return is imminent and when Derek is ready, I am sure that he will make himself available to release information. There are some comments from Derek on Ayn's Facebook Page which is open to anyone. Let me remind all of you of the good coverage that some news journalists provided to Derek in the early weeks of this now 18 month ordeal.

THERE IS A BETTER WAY/ Part 285 / For Love and For Justice / Zabeth and Paul Bayne/

Att.Gen, Mike de Jong (Steve Bosch photo)

Vancouver Sun ran an online article written by Jonathan Fowlie for Sun July 19, 2010 and entitled it, “B.C. to revolutionize Family Relations Act, revise legal definition of 'parent'”

I particularly want you to listen to some key phrases by Attorney General Mike de Jong as he explains the rationale for the significant changes being proposed in this historic reform of a thirty year old Family Relations Act. He said, “We have family law built around a very adversarial model and we think there is a better way — when a family changes or when a relationship comes apart — there is a better way to resolve some of those issues than rushing off to court,” said de Jong. Further to this he remarked, “We will always need the court, but we do not need a system that is primarily an adversarial system.”

I grant that the Family Relations Act and the Child, Family and Community Services Act address different issues, yet the latter is written with a similar adversarial model framework. Would you support, welcome and advocate for a rewrite of the CFCSA that would deliberately move from this adversarial model which predictably pits the Ministry of Children against parents? Would you wish that our Minister of Children would come out to say about the child protection component of her Ministry, “We do not need a system that is primarily an adversarial system. There is a better way to resolve the issues than rushing off to court.”  Do you think that we need absolutely groundbreaking legislation in the area of child and family services?

I am interested in hearing you on this topic.

1. To view the proposed changes to the Family Relations Act go here: Changes
2. You can read more about the FRA story at this Vancouver Sun site: Family Relations
3. Three Parents
4. B.C. Proposes Sweeping new Changes to Family Relations law

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 72 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

The Bayne Case was featured in an online Vancouver Sun article on Sunday.

In yesterday's blog post I wrote, "In hanging on to this case, a local MCFD division has dug a mudhole so deep that the entire Ministry countenance is going to be covered with it. The media will have a field day. If MCFD has been seeking to follow through on Hughes recommendations, these efforts may be lost in the shadow of the mess this case will create."

Well guess what! The Vancouver Sun carried an article yesterday written by Raphael Alexander, entitled 'A Family In Need Of Reunification.' I urge you to read Mr. Alexander's well written material and trace the links that the online copy provides to the Bayne Campaign for Justice Facebook site, the Petition site, and this GPS blog site and the approaching Fund Raising Concert.

He has done the Baynes a service by objectively disclosing the facts that are already known that warrant the restoration of this family unit. It is the only conclusion to which fair minded people must come after two years and two months of family dismemberment.

It is unfortunate that well intentioned purposes like protecting children and developing families can result in a bureaucratic tangle of reports, misunderstandings, disagreements, legalities, tensions, conflicts and antagonisms.

Adrian MacNair is a Vancouver writer who sometimes writes under his middle name, Raphael Alexander who is cited as a Vancouver-based blogger. His blog is entitled Ambiguously Ambidextrous.

See the Facebook Event announcing this Sunday's concert.

Zabeth and Paul Bayne – Part 37 – The Bayne Campaign for Justice

Five Years Ago - The Hughes Inquiry into MCFD Performance

There were grave concerns about the management of the Ministry of Children and Family Development when in November 2005 a Panel was named to review B.C.’s Child Protection System.

A Vancouver Sun article of December 29, 2005 was titled ‘BC Foster Children at Risk.’ That piece mentioned that the beleaguered MCFD was undergoing a sweeping review by Judge Hughes following the recent deaths of two children in care and the mishandling of child death reviews. There was an alarming shortage of foster homes. MCFD was acquiring more children than it had foster parents and homes. The Liberal government had restructured MCFD and the number of foster homes was reduced further. To its credit the Liberal regime sought other alternatives like mediation to allow children to remain with parents or relatives or be adopted. Nevertheless, overcrowding in some foster homes resulted. While so many foster parents regard their roles as a responsible trust, it is not reckless to imagine that recruitment standards for foster parents became relaxed in face of the need. Hence the title of the Vancouver Sun article and the suggestion of risk to children in foster care.

The panel’s mandate was to independently examine B.C.’s system of oversight, public reporting and advocacy with respect to the protection of children and youth.
Panel members were:
• Ted Hughes Q.C. (Chair)
• Grand Chief Ed John, former B.C. Minister for Children and Families and former law professor
• Jane Morley Q.C., lawyer and mediator, Child and Youth Officer
• Terry Smith, Chief Coroner, served with the RCMP for 35 years
• Joyce Preston, former Child and Youth Advocate, former director of social planning for Vancouver
• Ms. Maureen Nicholls, former commissioner of the Public Service Employee Relations Commission
• Thomas Gove, a provincial court judge who was commissioner of the Gove Inquiry into Child Protection 10 years ago, was available to engage in discussions with the panel if requested to do so by the panel.

A compelling term of reference was the review of deaths of children. The panel reviewed the roles and responsibilities of the Ministry of Children and Family Development, the Child and Youth Officer, the Chief Coroner, the Ombudsman, the Public Guardian and Trustee as they related to advocacy for children and youth and to monitoring and public reporting on the government’s performance in protecting and providing services.

It is the public reporting that chiefly interests me. That honesty and sincerity is essential to increasing trust and reducing fear. It appears that another review is required. Perhaps Mary Polak can generate that internally. I am sure she will want to as she acquits her responsibility to the best of her ability.

The Cost of Dying

Death is a growth industry. I was invited last year to a golf tournament for pastors sponsored by one of North America’s largest funeral service provider. I was invited to give a prayer before the sumptuous dinner at Coyote Creek banquet facilities. Every duffer regardless of handicap received a great prize. Let’s face it, pastors as I have been officiate hundreds of funerals over a career and we often are asked for recommendations to a funeral home. Funeral services are provided at a price which many people consider excessively high.

My thanks to a Nov 8, 2007 Vancouver Sun article for some of the data used here. I loved a line in that piece which expressed that with the self absorbed baby boomers due to turn 70 in 2016, expect to hear that death is the new 90. I arrive at 70 a fraction earlier in 2012 but I will be among the peloton skidding to the grave with our brakes fully engaged. Through the years much has been written about our costly way of dying. This has inspired the founding of membership driven memorial societies which for a nominal fee permits pre-arrangement of low cost funerals with select contracted companies. My mom and dad had memberships in such a society in Ontario. The Memorial Society of B.C., around since the 1950’s has 207,000 members at a cost of $20 lifetime membership, plus a $35 records fee when life ends. Many independent funeral homes have contracted to work with the Society that has incorporated an ethics code to which the contracting funeral service providers agree so grieving families are not pressured but helped. Costs of services and products like caskets and urns are priced respectfully rather than competitively. All Memorial Society of British Columbia designated funeral providers are owned and operated by Canadian families. None are franchises or owned by publicly traded companies. MSBC covers 95% of BC's population!

Personal Alternative Funeral Services is another option to a number of communities. Founded in 1992 and owned by Lawrence G. Little, a man with a distinguished 35-year career in the British Columbia funeral industry. I have worked with the Aldergrove Home and have always found families were satisfied with the services. The website allows you to connect with a provider in the following communities: Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, BC ; Kamloops and the Thompson Nicola District, BC ; Okanagan, BC; Trail and the West Kootenays, BC ; Calgary, Airdrie and Southern Alberta ; Red Deer, and Central Alberta ; Seattle and Western Washington, USA.

The Society’s website or toll free number may be helpful
and toll-free number is 1-888-816-5902