Special panel may probe child-welfare system
The death of four-yearold foster child Serenity has the government considering an all-party committee to take an in-depth look at the systemic issues plaguing Alberta’s child intervention system.
The proposal was put to Premier Rachel Notley by interim Progressive Conservative leader Ric McIver this week during question period.
Speaking Thursday with Postmedia, McIver said past governments and the current NDP government have all tried to improve the system, but it hasn’t worked.
Emaciated and suffering from hypothermia, four-year-old First Nations girl Serenity died in September 2014 after being airlifted to the Stollery Children’s Hospital with a catastrophic brain injury.
“Serenity is a severe case, tragic, but it’s not the only case,” McIver said.
Kids in care have been dying for a long time, he said, and the legislature must work together across party lines to get to the root causes in both regulation and society.
“I believe anybody that accuses anybody else in the house of not caring about this is wrong. I think every member of every party cares about this,” he said.
“The other day, the house was reduced to shouting across the aisle. That’s not helping kids — talking together will help kids.”
Aaron Manton, press secretary to Human Services Minister Irfan Sabir, said in an email Thursday that McIver’s idea is being “considered fully.”
The government knows it must do more to ensure children’s safety and well-being, Manton said, and it’s reviewing options for immediate actions it can take to improve the child intervention system.
McIver is hopeful Notley will “rise to the occasion” and is confident every member of the legislature will do their part to help.
Serenity’s death is disturbing enough, but another concern about the case raised in the house is that it took the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (CME) two years to complete its autopsy report.
September 2014 was a tumultuous time at the CME office, with then-head Dr. Anny Sauvageau locked in battle with the PC government, alleging political interference by politicians and bureaucrats in the administration of her office. At the same time, former chief medical examiner, Dr. Graeme Dowling, was refuting those allegations.
Asked Thursday if the office could have forgotten about Serenity’s case, causing the two-year delay, Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said she didn’t think so.
The office of Alberta’s child and youth advocate said Wednesday it asked the CME office time and again for an update on Serenity’s case, but didn’t hear back.
Ganley said Thursday her government is looking at the CME’s communication processes as a result, but she has “a great deal of confidence” in the current acting CME.