B.C. child advocate rips change to law

B.C.'s child-welfare watchdog says she willbe unabletodo her job properlyif new legislation introduced by the provincial government is passed.

The Representative for Children and Youth, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, said Friday that the proposed change to the law that created her positionwill severely restrict her access to cabinet documents.

Turpel-Lafond said that without them, she won't be able to assess how well the top levels of government are doing in handling children's issues.

The documents can show what recommendations were made to address certain child welfare issues and whether police resources, for example, were lacking inselect cases, Turpel-Lafond said.

'It is not a question of access' B.C. Attorney General Mike de Jong

"It's very important in my role to have a look at the system behind the curtain, if you like, and then very carefully report to the public to say, `Here's an issue, here's what happened, here are some reasonable suggestions for improvement in the future,'" Turpel-Lafond said.

"This legislation will remove from me the ability to see any of that material."

Attorney General disagrees

B.C. Attorney General Mike de Jong responded to Turpel-Lafond's assertions Friday, saying she was mistaken about the effect of the legislation.

"There is a fundamental disagreement," said de Jong. "And it revolves around the question of whether or not the representative should have the unrestricted ability to publicly release documents, protected by cabinet privilege. It is not a question of access."

The amendment introduced Thursday affects Bill 24-2006, the Representative for Children and Youth Act, which created the office that Turpel-Lafond holds.

Turpel-Lafond also said the new law is retroactive to 2007, covering many documents she already has, meaning she may not be able to complete reports she's currently working on.

"I'm about to complete reports looking at very significant issues, like around aboriginal children, where I guess I have to pack the files up if this is passed and I won't be able to report," she said.

Past reports by Turpel-Lafond have criticized the provincial government's efforts to protect vulnerable children.

'They're taking this really draconian step' NDP Children and Family critic Maurine Karigianis

Turpel-Lafond said she was appointed unanimously by all parties to take the politics out of the child welfare system and restore confidence in the system and that she can't understand why the government is eroding her powers.

Opposition cries foul

Maurine Karagianis, the NDP critic for the Ministry of Children and Family Development, said the introduction of legislation to strip Turpel-Lafond's powers speaks volumes about a government that has resisted many of her recommendations.

"I think that she has done a very effective job of fulfilling the mandate that she was hired under and now they're taking this really draconian step," Karagianis said.

The bill introducing the legislation affecting Turpel-Lafond's office came Thursday in legislation containing about 200 amendments to miscellaneous laws.

Karagianis said it was the government's way of burying what would undoubtedly be an unpopular move.

"It speaks to some nasty and stealthy work on their part," said Karagianis.