http://www.vs.gov.bc.ca/stats/annual/index.html
2004
168 deaths of infants under age 1, 24 deaths age 1-4, 25 age 5-9, 30 age 10-14, and 104 age 15-19,
total of 351.
and what did the asshole say:
DEATH OF CHILDREN IN CARE OR KNOWN
TO SOCIAL SERVICES MINISTRY
G. Campbell: My question is to the Minister of Social Services. The minister informed the House today that the
[ Page 728 ]
Child and Family Review Board is up and running. We know that in the last eight months since Mr. Justice Gove reported out on the Gove report, 14 children have died under the ministry's care. My question is: why has the minister not ensured that each of the 14 deaths has been given to the Child and Family Review Board for their independent review?
[2:15]
Hon. D. Streifel: I'd like to make it clear to the members opposite and to the House that this ministry looks at the deaths of these 14 children in a very, very serious way. It's tragic -- one death is too many. These deaths are all reviewed in the process. They are all reviewed by the coroner. They are all reviewed by the director of child protection under the act. I stress again that this is a very, very serious matter. This ministry takes it very seriously, and we have taken aggressive steps since the release of the Gove report. We have moved on many, many of the recommendations of Gove, and we are committed to implementing that report.
G. Campbell: The minister may rest assured that everyone in this House takes this seriously. The fact of the matter is that the Child and Family Review Board is up and running, and our information is that not one of these incidents has been referred to that board for review.
Justice Gove was very clear -- he was very clear -- that part of the problem with care for our children in government service is the government service. It's a shame that we have to say that. It's a shame that he had to write it. It's a shame we had to read it. But we must have an independent review. My question is evidently to the Minister of Health, who seems to know more about this than the Minister of Social Services. Justice Gove identified the "invisible children" as a real problem, a problem where children who die under the government's care go unnoticed and uninvestigated. When a child dies, investigate. When a child dies, pay attention. Why on earth would the Minister of Social Services not refer each one of those deaths to the Child and Family Review Board?
Hon. D. Streifel: I would like to make it absolutely clear to the Leader of the Opposition that we do accept our role very seriously when the province, when the government, becomes parents of these children -- some 13,000 children in a year. The process is that all the deaths are reported to the director and the coroner, and that process is in place now. If one of these deaths has to be referred to that board, it will be. Again I would stress how very, very serious this issue is and how very seriously we address it. I am somewhat offended....
Interjections.
The Speaker: Order, members.
Hon. D. Streifel: I think it is not good enough that the members of the opposition tend to play politics with this very serious issue.
Interjections.
The Speaker: Order, members, please.
G. Campbell: One of the issues that we have to deal with here is the death of children under the government's care. That is what we are dealing with. My question is to the Minister of Social Services, who is responsible for these children: how many of these deaths -- the number -- have you referred to the Child and Family Review Board? The advocate that was appointed, Ms. Joyce Rigaux, was clearly one of the problems. The ministry is a problem. We do not question the minister's care for these children. What we question is: how many of these incidents -- how many of these 14 deaths -- has the minister referred to the Child and Family Review Board?
Hon. D. Streifel: Each and every death is reviewed by the director and the coroner. The work is in process. This government has re-established the integrity of the audit and review division. We have a better information-sharing system. We have hired more social workers to address these things.
Some Hon. Members: How many?
Interjections.
Hon. D. Streifel: It's obvious that the members opposite aren't interested in the steps that have been taken to protect the children in British Columbia.
B. McKinnon: The story of Bryan Lacroix is another chapter in the story of how the Ministry of Social Services is failing B.C.'s children. He was seized by the ministry at birth because he was cocaine-addicted, and before he was a month old, custody was granted to his father. The ministry dropped out of Bryan's life for 13 months until he was on life support in Children's Hospital. He died a few days later of a massive head injury, which the coroner determined was caused by a severe blow to the right side of his head. Bryan Lacroix wasn't in the custody of the ministry when he died. Clearly he should have been. My question to the minister is: has this case been referred to the Child and Family Review Board?
Hon. D. Streifel: I'll take that question on notice and return the answer to the member.
The Speaker: Member for Surrey-Cloverdale, I don't think a supplemental is allowed, given the question on notice, but if you have a new question, I will take that.
http://www.leg.bc.ca/hansard/36th1st/h0723p1.htm#728
sidenote: I address this to the rev stalker that happened by last night. Knock Knock! anybody home upstairs. The DEATH of ONE child in this province because of gordon campbell's (asshole) cuts to the most vunerable is the business of every british columbian.
ukeright: