Another appalling NDP lapse in Serenity case
The Serenity case rises again, literally from the grave, to catch the NDP in twisted bureaucratic logic that seems insane to regular humans.
Little Serenity, a First Nations child, died in 2014 after being horrifically abused while living in a foster home.
The details are etched into Alberta’s psyche thanks to a powerful series of columns written last year by Postmedia’s Paula Simons.
This child of four was beaten, starved and sexually abused. She died in hospital with cuts, bruises, genital wounds and a severe brain injury. She weighed just 18 pounds.
Now we learn, thanks to a CBC story, that six children still live with the same adults in the same home.
How could this be? By what standard of “care” can the government allow children to stay with adults who were flagged as high risk even before Serenity died?
In the legislature Tuesday, Premier Rachel Notley outlined what passes for thinking in the government.
“We never place children in care into a setting where there is a criminal investigation involved,” she told the legislature.
“However, we do not take the biological children away from families where there is a criminal investigation involved.”
That’s the explanation. The biological kids stay, no matter what the adults are being investigated for. And this crime, as Wildrose Leader Brian Jean said, may have been “outright murder.”
He added: “It’s absolutely absurd that six children remain in the care of those responsible for Serenity at the time of her death.”
PC legislature leader Ric McIver went even further: “We know the premier and the children’s minister have left children under the same roof where a child named Serenity was starved, beaten, raped and murdered, knowing that her killers are still at large.”
Legislature Speaker Bob Wanner, a New Democrat, did not shut down some of the toughest talk ever heard in that legislature.
Notley and her ministers were on their own. They handled themselves abysmally.
The premier even tried to pin the current situation on the PCs, who were still in office when Serenity died. Children’s Services Minister Danielle Larivee kept repeating that she cares about every child.
They both said the household is being carefully and constantly monitored. Apparently, a court approved this.
But that doesn’t bring a whole lot of comfort, considering that monitoring before Serenity’s death was found to be notoriously deficient.
The whole history of this case is appalling. No autopsy report was written for nearly two years. Human Services failed to give a vital internal report on the death to the RCMP — again, for two full years.
A tortured First Nations child seemed to be disposable in death as she was in life.
One of the most worrisome problems was the extreme secrecy from the child-welfare system and, afterward, the police. To this day, the Mounties have nothing to say about the investigation.
The silence shows every sign of deepening. Both the Edmonton police and the RCMP are now refusing to identify many homicide victims, citing privacy concerns that are suddenly demanded by the FOIP law, even though the law hasn’t changed.
The new Serenity revelations weren’t the end of the NDP’s bad day. Wildrose revealed that the Lacombe Hospital and Care Centre has been cited for more than 80 standard of care violations.
These include, in one case, leaving a senior with dementia in a chair with her pants down to make it easier to get her to the bathroom next time.
Three hospital team leaders have been placed on leave. That’s it for consequences.
A group of student nurses from Red Deer reported the conditions to Alberta Health Services. They were at the hospital for a practicum that clearly taught them exactly what not to do.
The government and the opposition both congratulated those students and they certainly deserve it. But a more concerning detail emerged.
Many people with relatives in the hospital had already complained, but were ignored. Nobody was put on leave. No violations were detailed.
There’s the problem that runs straight back to Serenity.
Logic often vanishes in the labyrinth of care. Only insiders have a voice. The rest of us can just shut up and be governed.
It’s absolutely absurd that six children remain in the care of those responsible for Serenity at the time of her death.