In the wake of what we have learned about the short life of young Neveah it is abundantly clear that we need to establish a Child, Youth and Family Standing Committee in the Legislature of Ontario.
Here is why ;
Let me write first that I think an Inquest must be held to examine the circumstances that led to Naveah’s death and the subsequent search for her identity once her body was discovered. Surely there were errors in judgement, mistakes of omission and commission, made by personnel in three different child welfare agencies involved in her life. .Mistakes made by lawyers, judges, caregivers and others.
An Inquest can assist in making sense of what took place. An Inquest can speak for the dead to protect the living.
We know if an Inquest is to take place it is a long way off. An Inquest cannot take place until the criminal investigation and any legal matters resulting from that investigation are complete. The Toronto Police Services are yet to close the case and it seems unlikely they will in the near future. If charges are ever laid, a trial will need to take place. We are months, years away.
Inquests tend to have limited scope as determined by the presiding Coroner. I have been involved in many and its always a battle to have an Inquest examine systemic issues that may have led to the death of the child at issue. While important, and while Neveah deserves to be honoured, to be seen in her death when she was not seen in life, an Inquest into her death will be no panacea.
A Standing Committee on Children, Youth and Families should be struck. We have seen that Committees can work in a non-partisan manner, particularly if they are tasked with coming around vulnerable populations. Such a Committee is not a unicorn, they exist in many other Provinces in Canada.
The Standing Committee once struck could immediately in camera examine details of the Province’s failure to protect Nevaeh and make recommendations to the government. There is no need to wait for an Inquest to begin the process of learning and change.
In 2022-23 as reported in the Ombudsman of Ontario latest Annual Report 136 children connected to child protection died. This number is higher than any other year in Ontario’s history. The Ombudsman both due to his interpretation of the duty of an Ombudsman and the constraints in his legislation cannot willingly “advocate” for children and youth. The Coroner, only an arms length position in the Ontario government and not independent cannot advocate for children and youth. The Minister, of course, will not advocate for children and youth as he is responsible for the services they receive. A Standing Committee could compel attendance at the Committee by the Coroner , the Ombudsman and the Minister to speak to the deaths of 136 children. This would provide these officers the opportunity to speak to the deaths of children connected to child protection and answer questions.
Rather than a “nothing to see here, move along” attitude, a Standing Committee could take a “we must do better approach” to the death of our children and make recommendations publicly about what changes might prevent and reduce the number of deaths.
Examining the deaths of children would be just a starting point for the Standing Committee. The circumstances that children who die have faced are the tip of the iceberg. It is logical to assume that many thousands of children survive, but are traumatized by those same circumstances.
A Standing Committee on Children, Youth and Families could immediately begin charting a path in a non-partisan way to a new system for the well-being of our children. This task, again, is not unusual. It follows the commitment of the Government of British Columbia responding to a report from the Representative for Children and Youth in British Columbia. The report , “Don’t Look Away”, https://rcybc.ca/hfaq/dont-look-away/ , called for the creation of a new “Child Well Being” system that would complement and perhaps one day replace the Province’s child protection system.
The Standing Committee’s overarching goals could be to act as the Legislative arm of a process to create a Province where;
– Every child is safe
– Every child has what they need when they need it in order to thrive
– Every family, regardless how constituted, has what they need when they need it in order to do right by their children
– All of the above rooted in “belonging” in every glorious form of the word
In absence of a Child Advocate in Ontario, whose job was to ensure our most vulnerable children were seen and heard it is absolutely essential a Committee on Children and Youth Is established.
It is time our Members of Provincial Parliament stepped up, found a way to work together, and became child advocates themselves.