Report on B.C. child deaths poised to raise tough questions
British Columbia's child protection system is expected to be put under a microscope Wednesday when an independent review of the deaths of four children is released.
The review by Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, a former Saskatchewan judge appointed B.C.'s independent children's representative almost two years ago, is expected to focus on the government's role in protecting the children.
It comes at a particularly tumultuous time in B.C., as the RCMP continue their search for the father of three children in the Interior community of Merritt. Allan Schoenborn, 40, is the prime suspect in the deaths of Kaitlynne, 10, Max, 8, and Cordon, 5.
The four children whose deaths are being reviewed ranged in age from four years to seven months. The three girls and one boy from northern B.C. were all known to the government's child protection system.
Three-year-old Savannah Hall was found unresponsive in her foster home in Prince George, B.C., on Jan. 24, 2001. She died in B.C. Children's Hospital two days later.
Death by suffocation
A coroner's inquest in November 2007 was told that Hall slept in a crib equipped with leather harnesses.
The inquest found Hall's death was a homicide as a result of suffocation. Criminal charges were not laid but the inquest made 26 recommendations.
Rowen Von Niederhausern, of Terrace, was 14 months old when he died in August 2002. A coroner's jury found he died of brain injuries as a result of accidental shaking.
Serena Leona Marie Wiebe died in Fort St. James in June 2005. She was just seven months old.
Last June, another coroner's jury concluded the 1999 death of four-year-old Amanda Simpson was a homicide caused by non-accidental head trauma.
The jury called on the B.C. Ministry of Children and Family Development to take steps to improve its ability to protect children, upgrade training for social workers and spend more on resources targeted at child protection.
Simpson died on Nov. 2, 1999, three days after suffering extensive head and body injuries while at home in the care of her stepfather.
At least one member of the provincial government children and youth committee, which will receive the report, expects the report to pose deep and troubling questions about the state of child protection in the province.
'Essential' that mistakes be acknowledged
Nicholas Simons, one of four Opposition New Democrats on the 10-member Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth, said the deaths of children is difficult subject matter but it's our responsibility to learn all we can.
"When mistakes were made, whether it's by this government or the previous governments, I think it's essential that we acknowledge those," he said.
Turpel-Lafond was appointed following a 2006 review of B.C.'s child protection system by former judge Ted Hughes, who said the province's system was stretched beyond its limits by constant leadership and policy changes and deep funding cuts.
He called for the appointment of an independent watchdog with the authority to advocate for individual children and families and monitor the child welfare system, as well as advocate for change.