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Saturday, May 06, 2006

Even the Toronto Sun gets it! In case you missed it, here's the lead editorial today: May 1, 2006 EDITORIAL: Give this watchdog more biteEver since he was appointed Ontario Ombudsman a year ago, Andre Marin has been making trouble for Premier Dalton McGuinty’s government.And that’s good, because that’s his job. Marin investigates cases where citizens receive poor service from the province, just as the auditor reports on fiscal mismanagement. Beyond dealing with individual complaints, Marin has increasingly been taking on cases where he sees a system-wide or “systemic” failure of government. Thus far he’s exposed:- Bureaucratic bungling which forced parents of severely disabled children to give them up to children’s aid societies.- A shocking failure to update the screening of newborn babies for diseases, a situation that could easily have been fixed for $2.4 million.- Arbitrary and secretive conduct by Ontario’s Municipal Property Assessment Corp. in setting property assessments. These assessments directly impact on how much property tax people pay.Such rulings haven’t made Marin popular with the government, even though he was chosen for the job by an all-party committee and says most of the problems he’s uncovered started before the Grits took office.Now he’s worried the powers of his office are being curtailed. He notes a law passed recently by the Liberals establishing a civilian review process for complaints about the police contains a specific clause keeping the agency out of his jurisdiction.Ontario, Marin says, is also lagging behind other provinces which empower their ombudsmen to probe municipalities, universities, school boards and hospitals — the “MUSH” sector which accounts for 80% of provincial spending — as well as children’s aid societies, which receive $1.5 billion annually.Soon after he was appointed to his job by the government, a committee of senior civil servants recommended his entire office be scrapped as a cost-saving measure. Bad idea.As Ontario’s ombudsman and in his previous jobs as the federal military ombudsman and head of Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit, which probes the use of police force, Marin has shown himself to be a tough, compassionate defender of ordinary citizens.We agree with him that his office should be given the same jurisdictional authority as the auditor.Marin says he doesn’t know what the government is afraid of, given that he only has the power to report on and publicize his findings. Neither do we.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amanda - thanks for posting the editorial. Yes if the media gets it, the Ombudsman gets it, and all those who were in the system then why not the government?

If the CAS is the wonderful agency that it professes to be then why the great fear?

Anonymous said...

On the ground, there is growing confusion about what will become of new services, jobs and wage hikes already planned or in place.

"The child care movement is reeling," said Monica Lysack, executive director of the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada. ``Within hours of being sworn in, Harper ripped the child-care program away from parents and children without any discussion.



Harper says mom and dads are the experts, he is right, he also raised the age for sexual consent back up from 14, who in their right mind gave a child the right to have sex, more like abused.

Harpers MPs have written for focus on the family, a scathing piece on UN Rights of the child and child protection in Canada.

They have been targets, the christen right, the home schoolers.

ask for a royal commission of inquiry into all CAS actions.

Most not legal, and would NEVER stand up in a real court of law. The worry over the Young case, they have reason for concern, child savers are NOT interested in protecting anyone children, and having them taken puts them at great risk, look below how they treat and neglected their so called OWN children,over and over again. Did not know what school he attended, or even if, that's reason for apprehension, or where he was sleeping? did they feed him even, cloths, dentist, know anything about his basic needs, they say no! its abuse, and so ugly!! they get away with it over and over again.

Where is the recorded vote on Bill 210, and Chambers shame look at Ontario's children your so called children dying in your care, that we fund, for WHAT.

The broken promises, this government will go down in history for, shame, but Bill C 210 will be what makes the liberals for ever fall out of favour. You had the chance to make a real difference in the lives of children. You promised to give back the claw back to the poorest of families so they could afford to eat better, shame. Neglect is poverty and this government is neglecting the children, after the promised to stop. Familys have no right, well you represent the voters, not industry, not the giant NGO we pay for, called children's raid societies, how dare they hide in yet another Bill OUR right to vote, they snuck it into a budget bill, took away are rights to vote, and want us to wait every four years, HELLO the elections are about the people, they are NOT about the politicians, democracy bull shit. And who tried to screw the aboriginals yet again in Bill 210 , Canada has a sorry history in dealing with the native children, genocide, now do it to the poor, or the advocate, what's it look like??


Do they need oversight to say the very least YES. but how much there is to hide, between a rock and a hard place, between hell and high water

Anonymous said...

Durham Regional Police are releasing few details about 15-year-old Jerome Bennett and the circumstances under which he died. Homicide Detective James Stewart-Haass would not say whether or not police have identified suspects in the slaying.

"All I can tell you right now is the investigation is moving forward," he said.

The boy's body was discovered around 8:30 p.m. Saturday in a lot at the Glazier Medical Centre, at Simcoe and Gibb streets. Police said there were obvious signs of trauma to the body, which sustained sharp-force injuries.

The incident marks the first homicide in Durham Region this year.

Not much is known about the boy. He is estranged from his north Oshawa family, a source said. The Durham Region Children's Aid Society has confirmed he was in the agency's care.

AND another one, there are too many, is this child protection?

Matthew had lived in a foster home on Welland's Frazer Street for more than two years, The Tribune's source said.

The children's aid society responsible for Matthew would only say he was well known by his foster family.

The girl charged with his murder had been a resident at David S. Horne Home.

She first arrived at the open custody and open detention facility on Highway 20 on Dec. 9, said its executive director, Mark Patus.

She moved out of the facility and into foster care Dec. 14.

Matthew was found lifeless at 8:20 a.m. Dec. 15.

It's a pretty sad case, Patus said.

It's absolutely shocking not just for us, but the whole system.

For the whole system, what about the children, what about there real family's, there parents. You took them INTO CARE. is this what children protection does, with the children in care?

should anyone trust such a system? any parent with this kind of history would be, and should be jailed.

Here are MORE of YOUR so called children Minister Chambers.

Is it no wonder Mr Harper, wont give money for child care , he cant trust you, nor can the public, in Quebec, child abuse needs evidence, not by your CAS agencies, they just need children to harm.

Ombudsman? they need to be shut down

Anonymous said...

That little Matthew that died in Welland the neighbours called the CCAS regarding that foster home. Of course CCAS did nothing. I personally, and I am not from Welland heard about that foster home a month prior to Matthew's death. I was sick when the person who talked to me about the foster home announces to me that a little boy died in that home. I felt sick.
If anyone won't to do something regarding the CCAS, or have a story I am writing a book about CCAS and CAS. Anyone that will like to join me please contact me @
lamimi_francaise@hotmail.com We must protect all the children in this country!
Linda

Anonymous said...

Minister Marianne Chamber is only looking after her own people in Jamaica with our Canadian money

Anonymous said...

Why are people bringing babies into the world if they don't want to look after them? I believe the birth parents should be held accountable for the abuse and neglect they put upon thier children. If they are put into foster care, then the birth parents should be made to pay some of that money back for the care and upkeep for thier children. If the parents abuse thier children, they should be punished to the full extent of the law.