SAMANTHA LAUREN MARTIN - COURT RESUMES TODAY / 478

Samantha Lauren Martin June 4, 1993 - December 3, 2006

With a song by Avril Lavigne a nicely laid out video tribute in Celebration of the Importance of Life & Loving Memory of a young girl named Samantha Lauren Martin shows you her brief life as well as the sought after objective of birth parents who did not have her in their home most of her life and for whom they now seek inquiry and closure. Her death inspired Samantha's Law.

Her parents are John and Velvet Martin. On Jan. 17, 2011 they finally obtained 'a fatality inquiry' into the death of their severely disabled 13-year-old daughter Samantha who died unexpectedly. It is happening this morning. (Samantha Martin Public Fatality Inquiry / Court reconvenes today, Friday, March 18th at 9:30 am. Edmonton Provincial Court, Room 449, Law Courts, 1A Sir Winston Churchill Square, Edmonton, AB T5J 0R2)

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.

STEPHEN BROWN MAKES ME OPTIMISTIC / 476

You already know that former health services chief administrative officer Stephen Brown has replaced Lesley du Toit as the deputy minister of children and family development. His experience encourages me. Most of his career has been spent in child and family services. He was CEO of the Ma-mowe Capital Region, Child and Family Service Authority in Alberta. Stephen has worked for the Government of Alberta’s Ministry of Children’s Services where he was Executive Manager for that province’s Child Welfare Act Review. He has a PhD focusing on the management of strategic change in the public service and holds Masters degrees in Business Administration and Organizational Psychology. Brown's autobiography is posted on Royal Roads University's Website as I noted yesterday.

This is why I am hopeful:

DR. STEPHEN BROWN REPLACES MS. LESLIE DU TOIT / 475

Dr. Stephen Brown

The Victoria Times Colonist put it this way, “The children’s ministry also gets a long overdue management overhaul with the welcome appointment of Stephen Brown to replace former deputy minister Lesley du Toit.”

One wonders what changes the changing of the principals will have upon the MCFD. On one hand, the continual changing of key personnel every few years cannot affect the necessary transformation. On the other hand many readers will welcome this bureaucratic change.
Premier Clark explained the Ministry changes this way, "We want to have a focus on families in the government and my deputy [minister to the premier John Dyble] felt it was time for a change there." said Clark.

NEWS RELEASE - NEW MCFD MINISTER / 474

Hon. Mary McNeil, MCFD

Premier Christy Clark today announced a new, smaller cabinet which she stated will be focused on putting families first, creating jobs and changing the way British Columbians engage with their government. Premier Clark said, “Our new cabinet will reflect the priorities of British Columbians and put families at the centre of all our decision-making.”
 
One of changes Premier Christy Clark made was to elevate well known MLA Mary McNeil, to the position of Minister of Children and Family Development Minister of the Ministry Children and Family Development.

Bigger news tomorrow morning!

A MOTHER TERESA TOUCH / 473

The details are scant but the story is true. Recently a European couple who emigrated to B.C. two years ago were caught in a gill net belonging to the Ministry of Children. Such nets are known to entangle families beyond escape. The female gave birth to a child who was hospitalized with post-birth complications. For reasons unknown to me a social worker in her mid twenties dropped by to speak with the mother. Perhaps because the mother was unfamiliar with English, or our social care system or preoccupied with her sick child and very new to mothering, she didn't give the social worker much time or attention. This was perceived as a dismissal. On a couple of other occasions the social worker sought to make contact but was again rebuffed. The social worker wrote a report that questioned the young mother's parenting ability, and you know where that leads. Would removal be deemed extreme?

MAKING IT PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE / Part 472 / For Love and For Justice / Zabeth and Paul Bayne

The Bayne family is a prime example of the way by which the Ministry of Children and Family Development (“Ministry”) fails to follow the principles outlined for it in the Child, Family, and Community Service Act (“CFCSA”). Unless Leslie duToit and Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond give attention here, there will be other cases like this one that become public knowledge. I must compliment Paul and Zabeth for the tenacity with which they have brought their heartache to the public. What else were they to do when the agency that should be helping them shut its ears to them because the Baynes would not admit to a criminal act.

THE JUDGE INTENDS RETURNING THE CHILDREN / Part 471 / For Love and For Justice / Zabeth and Paul Bayne

I continue to be grateful for the readership response to this GPS blog. It is kind of you to stay informed here. Many of you are media personnel, social workers, Ministry employees. It is imperative that the seriousness of the breach of justice be understood, acknowledged and addressed in a virtuous manner.

Paul and Zabeth Bayne received from Judge Thomas Crabtree an 'opportunity' as he termed it. Ostensibly it was a nudge to the Ministry and to the Baynes to do something that has not worked for 3.5 years – that is, work together to bring the children home to the Baynes.

THE BAYNES ON THE ROADKILL SHOW/ Part 470 / For Love and For Justice / Zabeth and Paul Bayne

I have never listened to Roadkill Radio before or watched its livestream broadcast but I did last evening. Paul and Zabeth Bayne were scheduled to be on it. I was hesitant about their appearance because the promotion for the upcoming show led me to believe that it could cast them in a bad light since the hosts were going to aim some heavy artillery at the Ministry and particularly that segment of workers related to the Bayne case.

I must say that Paul and Zabeth stated their case with confidence and detailed explanation. After all, it was a significantly more receptive interrogation than the cross-examination within the court room. The recorded audio portion is cited below for you. It was a 60 minute show with numerous call-ins, citation of other cases, expressed abhorrence at the treatment this couple has experienced from the Ministry of Children and Family. Below is a 3 min video clip and a 50 min audio clip.

FAILURE OF THE FATHER TO TESTIFY / Part 469 / For Love and For Justice / Zabeth and Paul Bayne

Today,I can tell you more about the future of this GPS blog. By next Monday it will have a facelift but more importantly it will undergo a Refocus. For sixteen months each daily blog post has concerned Paul and Zabeth Bayne and their quest for the return of their children. They will continue their efforts but I will not consistently write about them. Their names will not be synonymous with the content of this GPS blog. I will however speak to the child protection concerns that proliferate within our societies and these comments as well as yours will not include or reflect upon the Baynes. The stories of other families struggling with child protection and advice on how to work with MCFD in order to recover your children may be featured here.There will be occasional updates about the Bayne Family progress.

Debriefing Judge Crabtree's REASONS FOR JUDGMENT March 2, 2011

My Fourth of Numerous Synopses (Judge Crabtree's actual wording is in quotations. Everything else is my understanding of the statements for the ruling.)   THE FAILURE OF THE FATHER TO TESTIFY