A former deputy minister faced a barrage of criticism Monday for recommending less independent oversight of B.C.’s Ministry of Children and Family Development within two years.
Bob Plecas proposed the controversial change as part of a broader review that urged more money and staff for the ministry.
Echoing a report by former judge Ted Hughes nine years earlier, Plecas said the ministry has been starved of resources, buffeted by change and hurt by high turnover of leaders and front-line staff.
“I find it particularly concerning that, over the past four years, the proportion of MCFD’s budget that is dedicated to child protection has actually decreased in real terms, leaving alone the impacts of inflation,” he said.
Plecas called for an injection of $50 million in 2016-17 as part of a four-year strategic plan that would improve training, expand quality-assurance programs and strengthen the office of the director of child welfare.
But he took the most heat for complaining that the ministry has been hurt by the “sheer volume” of recommendations from Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, B.C.’s representative for children and youth. He called her relationship with the ministry “strained” and said it has been only “partially successful.”
“Despite everyone’s best intentions, the constant recommendations have become part of the bigger management problem,” he said.
Plecas said Hughes never envisioned a permanent oversight role for the watchdog when he recommended creating the office in his 2006 review.
“In my view, the situation at the end of 2015 is different than in April 2006 in that real change is underway in the ministry,” Plecas writes.
He says that within two years, the ministry’s internal review processes should be robust enough that it can begin reporting on itself.
He said government and Opposition MLAs would be able to receive detailed briefings on cases and raise them in the legislature.
Plecas told reporters that he never considered whether the government would be required to make its reports public as Turpel-Lafond does. “I couldn’t recommend everything,” he said. “I didn’t think of it, to be honest.”
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, who joined Turpel-Lafond at a press conference in Victoria, called it “absolutely ludicrous” that the ministry would one day be ready to provide oversight of itself.
“The ministry has not proven capable of organizing itself in the aftermath of a multitude of investigations and inquiries,” he said. “They have completely dropped the ball and there’s [a] tragic dimension to that failure in the terms of so many deaths of young people and children.
“We’ve fought this issue in terms of policing — police investigating themselves — [and] it’s proven to be totally ineffective without a shred of accountability and we think the RCY’s [representative for children and youth] function is absolutely essential.”
Doug Kelly, who chairs the B.C. First Nations’ Health Council, said he was disappointed that Plecas never consulted with the council. He called the report an “inside job” and said Turpel-Lafond and First Nations leaders have been pushing for increased investment in the Children’s Ministry for years without success.
“But an old white guy sits down and says, ‘You know what, premier, you should invest more money into Children and Family Development?’ That old guy was heard. Why is that?”
Turpel-Lafond called it “borderline comical” for Plecas to suggest that her office is part of the problem.
“The ministry’s problem is not that people are making recommendations to improve it,” she said. “The problem actually is we’re not effectively serving children and families.”
Turpel-Lafond said she is pleased that Plecas endorsed her calls for more resources and staff in the ministry. She said if it’s easier for the premier to take the advice from Plecas than from her, “I could care less; it’s about the children. But get it done.”
Minister of Children and Family Development Stephanie Cadieux made no budget commitments, but said Plecas will continue working with the government to help it implement recommendations. He will provide an update in six months.
Cadieux has asked her deputy to set up a transition team to “drive the change that’s still needed.”
She said the ministry has to make a lot of improvements before it could consider taking on an oversight role from the watchdog’s office. That decision would follow a broader discussion by the select standing committee on children and youth and the legislature, she said.
NDP Leader John Horgan said any move to reduce Turpel-Lafond’s powers would be unlikely to receive support from the Opposition in the near future. He noted there would be no Plecas report without Turpel-Lafond and the Opposition highlighting issues.
“I just absolutely reject that scrutiny is the problem,” he said. “Lack of services for children is the problem.”
