TIME FOR ANSWERS

It is sadly fitting that the news conference called Friday to announce a charge in the case of Serenity did not go as it ought to have. Add it to the litany of mistakes that have been made on Serenity’s file during her life and after her death.

Several hours after the announcement ended, RCMP issued a news release late in the evening to clarify that the death of the four-year-old girl who spent her final days in hospital on life support after suffering catastrophic head injuries was “not criminal in nature.”

Mounties wanted to make clear that the charge of failing to provide the necessaries of life, laid jointly against Serenity’s 56-year-old great-aunt and 55-year-old great-uncle was “in relation to the circumstances and conditions” in which the little girl lived while under their care. The specific injury which caused her death was not criminal in nature, RCMP said.

That this crucial fact was not made plain in the earlier briefing, despite pointed queries by journalists on the cause of death, only adds to the frustration and unanswered questions that continue to swirl around the short, tragic life of Serenity, which ended more than three years ago on Sept. 18, 2014.

Instead of offering relief and resolution with an accusation of wrongdoing coming better late than never, the announcement of a single charge — unrelated to Serenity’s death — which carries a maximum penalty of five years only brings more heartbreak, anger and confusion.

With that charge in Serenity’s case now before the court, observers must now tread carefully but the facts speak for themselves: the four-year-old Indigenous girl was in government care when she died in 2014, weighing just 18 pounds and arriving at hospital with severe injuries that included a fractured skull and a body covered in deep bruises, including her anal and genital areas.

Troubling questions remain:

Is the investigation done? Are more charges in the works? Why were more serious charges not levelled despite signs the girl was assaulted? How many other children are in the same circumstances that Serenity found herself in?

We know that eight children died while in government care in the fiscal year 2016-17.

Another 16 died at home while receiving government services to resolve matters of concern while another two deaths were young adults previously involved in child intervention and receiving support.

Most foster parents do good work, but when the government takes children away from their families, it sets the duty of care higher.

And when the government fails so deeply kids under its care, Albertans expect clear answers and serious consequences.