No scrutiny of ministry in tot's death
Probe into killing of 19-month-old girl altered to focus on aboriginal agency
Lindsay Kines
Times Colonist
September 20, 2005
B.C.'s Children and Family Development Minister Stan Hagen admitted Monday that his office altered its investigation into the death of 19-month-old Sherry Charlie to focus on the aboriginal agency involved, rather than the ministry.
Sherry was killed by her uncle at Port Alberni in 2002, just weeks after being placed in his home by the Nuu-chah-nulth child protection agency, Usma.
Hagen denied a coverup, but confirmed the allegation by Opposition critic Adrian Dix that the review's terms of reference were changed. Dix said he got his information from a government source.
Hagen and his assistant deputy minister Jeremy Berland said the decision to change the review's terms of reference was made by a former director of child welfare and an executive director without the involvement of then-children's minister Gordon Hogg.
But neither Berland nor Hagen could say why the change was made. Berland said there were no letters or memos that indicate a reason.
Hagen said he wasn't sure when -- or even if -- he knew that the terms of reference had been changed.
"I'm not saying that over a year of briefings it wasn't mentioned to me," he said. "But it certainly has been elevated on my radar screen as of today."
Hagen said he's asked his staff to investigate further. "I have some questions about why the process changed myself," he said.
Dix, who first raised the issue in question period Monday, said the ministry's decision to change the terms of reference follows the Liberal government's pattern of attempting to hide its involvement in the Sherry Charlie case.
"This has been coverup after coverup after coverup," he said.
Berland said he drafted five terms of reference for the case review shortly after Sherry's death. But, unbeknownst to him, officials changed the review's scope a few weeks later, dropping a requirement that it also examine the ministry's involvement with Sherry's family. Berland acknowledged that a review of the ministry's involvement would have included a look at the ministry's budget and staff levels.
The NDP has attempted to link Sherry's death to ministry budget and staffing cuts.
Berland said he didn't realize the review had changed until about 10 months ago, when he received the draft report. He said he was "irritated" by the change and acknowledged that "it's clearly not an acceptable way to conduct a review."
Berland didn't resurrect the initial instructions. He said starting over wasn't an option because the report was already late and it wouldn't have shed any more light on the case.
Berland said the ministry has already admitted mistakes in the way it handled Sherry's file, and has taken steps to correct the problems.
"So, what more do we need to do on top of that to say, 'Something went wrong here that shouldn't have happened?' "
Asked why the government hadn't revealed earlier that the terms of reference were changed, and why it took the NDP to point it out in the legislature, Berland said: "Good question. I think, as I said, sometimes you get close to these things and you don't think about all of the possible other questions that may arise. In my view, the report satisfied the question of what happened in this case."
Probe into killing of 19-month-old girl altered to focus on aboriginal agency
Lindsay Kines
Times Colonist
September 20, 2005
B.C.'s Children and Family Development Minister Stan Hagen admitted Monday that his office altered its investigation into the death of 19-month-old Sherry Charlie to focus on the aboriginal agency involved, rather than the ministry.
Sherry was killed by her uncle at Port Alberni in 2002, just weeks after being placed in his home by the Nuu-chah-nulth child protection agency, Usma.
Hagen denied a coverup, but confirmed the allegation by Opposition critic Adrian Dix that the review's terms of reference were changed. Dix said he got his information from a government source.
Hagen and his assistant deputy minister Jeremy Berland said the decision to change the review's terms of reference was made by a former director of child welfare and an executive director without the involvement of then-children's minister Gordon Hogg.
But neither Berland nor Hagen could say why the change was made. Berland said there were no letters or memos that indicate a reason.
Hagen said he wasn't sure when -- or even if -- he knew that the terms of reference had been changed.
"I'm not saying that over a year of briefings it wasn't mentioned to me," he said. "But it certainly has been elevated on my radar screen as of today."
Hagen said he's asked his staff to investigate further. "I have some questions about why the process changed myself," he said.
Dix, who first raised the issue in question period Monday, said the ministry's decision to change the terms of reference follows the Liberal government's pattern of attempting to hide its involvement in the Sherry Charlie case.
"This has been coverup after coverup after coverup," he said.
Berland said he drafted five terms of reference for the case review shortly after Sherry's death. But, unbeknownst to him, officials changed the review's scope a few weeks later, dropping a requirement that it also examine the ministry's involvement with Sherry's family. Berland acknowledged that a review of the ministry's involvement would have included a look at the ministry's budget and staff levels.
The NDP has attempted to link Sherry's death to ministry budget and staffing cuts.
Berland said he didn't realize the review had changed until about 10 months ago, when he received the draft report. He said he was "irritated" by the change and acknowledged that "it's clearly not an acceptable way to conduct a review."
Berland didn't resurrect the initial instructions. He said starting over wasn't an option because the report was already late and it wouldn't have shed any more light on the case.
Berland said the ministry has already admitted mistakes in the way it handled Sherry's file, and has taken steps to correct the problems.
"So, what more do we need to do on top of that to say, 'Something went wrong here that shouldn't have happened?' "
Asked why the government hadn't revealed earlier that the terms of reference were changed, and why it took the NDP to point it out in the legislature, Berland said: "Good question. I think, as I said, sometimes you get close to these things and you don't think about all of the possible other questions that may arise. In my view, the report satisfied the question of what happened in this case."
