Status quo for child advocate’s powers: NDP
Expanding the powers of Alberta’s child and youth advocate isn’t on the government’s to-do list right now, the children’s services minister said Thursday after being questioned following the release of new photos of a girl who died while in government care.
Instead, Children’s Services Minister Danielle Larivee said she will await the recommendations of Alberta’s all-party child intervention panel, charged with identifying ways to fix a broken system.
The death of four-year-old Serenity in 2014 was again brought up in the legislature Thursday after photos of the little girl on life support were published the day before in the Edmonton Journal.
Larivee called those images “horrific.”
“As human beings, we’re devastated to think that such a small child would have gone through that,” she told Postmedia.
Serenity’s death was the focus of a round of questions thrown at the government by opposition MLAs Thursday.
Jason Nixon, Wildrose’s panel representative, wanted to know when somebody will be charged in Serenity’s death.
The case has been in the hands of Crown prosecutors since last year.
Larivee wouldn’t comment on the legal aspects of the file, but told Postmedia she’s confident prosectors are “doing all they can to deal with a very difficult case.”
“I think some members (of the panel) would like to see this about holding a trial for the people involved in the Serenity case and turning it into an inquiry, instead of being about what changes we can make to the system,” she said.