Straight thoughts 44

September 4, 2000

There is no question that society has to protect children from abuse or when there are grounds for suspecting abuse.
From this year Ontario government news release on the "Child and Family Services Amendment Act" (Bill 6) we read:

"The Ontario government now spends more on child protection than any other government in the history of this province. Children’s aid societies have received $106 million in new funding this year, which is being used to hire additional staff, and to cover costs associated with the implementation of child protection reforms. This brings total funding for child protection to $654.4 million, an increase of more than 80 % since 1995."

Bill 6 also expands the reasons for finding a child in need of protection and gives power to the CAS to remove children from families earlier in the process.

The situation is a little scary: Bureaucrats with more money to spend and power to intervene spells ABUSE, even where abuse does not exist.

A case in point may be what happened on July 13th this year.
The CAS arrived, unannounced, at the Mielke's house, apprehended nine children and put them in five different foster homes.
Abuse has not been proven. It is up to the parents to demonstrate through a psychological assessment, that they are good parents. Then, perhaps four months later, they may have their children back.
In the meantime a whole family has been seriously disrupted and abused.

When the CAS walks in and apprehends children, should they not have grounds
for suspecting abuse? Should they not convince a judge of these suspicions BEFORE intervening? Do not the parents have the right to KNOW the exact reasons why their children are apprehended?

We will hear this particular story from Dave Mielke this Monday on 'Straight Talk'.
Tune-in on CJMR, AM 1320 this Monday September 4th, at 5:45 p.m.