N.S. considering creation of child advocacy office

Nova Scotia may be joining the rest of the provinces in establishing a child advocate office.

A question pertaining to whether the province was considering the idea came up at the legislature’s standing committee on community services on Jan. 9.

Other provinces all have a child advocate who is independent of the legislature.

Lynn Hartwell, deputy minister of community services, told the committee the department is considering whether it should establish a child advocacy office and how it might pay for that. She said department officials recently met with a group of people pushing for a child advocate, and said the province has been considering it off and on for several years.

The provincial ombudsman’s office currently has responsibility for youth in care, Hartwell said.

“That level of interaction has given us some comfort that there’s been a child advocacy-type role, but what I’ve learned and what I’m understanding is that role of child advocate in other jurisdictions goes beyond sort of an ombudsman-type role,” she said. “Someone who’s really advocating for public policy that is child-focused, child-friendly and so on.

“So we absolutely are looking at it. People will know here that with everything else going on, we’re trying to determine . . . is this the best place for limited resources or is it somewhere else? So I think the onus is on us to finalize that review and then bring it forward.”