Editor:
Our Federation's board and 126 community-based member agencies have serious concerns about recent legislative changes that could compromise the work of B.C.'s Representative for Children and Youth.
The Representative, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, was appointed in 2006 by the current government to help address major problems in B.C.'s child welfare system, as identified by Ted Hughes in his review of the child protection system the previous year. She has done an outstanding job to date, and the people of B.C. are better off for her work.
The legislative changes underway right now will restrict that access and will significantly limit the power of the office. Documents intended for or generated by B.C.'s cabinet will be off-limits to the representative. While we understand the need to protect cabinet confidentiality, this has to be balanced with authority for the representative to gather information as needed for the comprehensive assessment of policies, programs and services for our most at-risk citizens.
What that means on the ground is less oversight and advocacy for B.C.'s most vulnerable children and families, and uncertainty as to who is taking the lead in seeing that the Hughes report is fully implemented.
It can't be easy to maintain an open, honest and respectful relationship between a government agency and a watchdog organization. But we urge government to tackle such relational challenges rather than restrict the representative's access to information with potential for improving outcomes for at-risk children and families.
We ask government to continue the work it committed to four years ago by creating the representative's office. Thousands of B.C. children and families are counting on it.
Nanette Taylor
Federation of Community Social Services of BC
