One-sided Inquests Supported

September 10, 2006 permalink

The Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills held hearings on Ontario bill 89. It provides that when a child dies at the hands of a parent after custody is returned to him, that death must be the subject of a coroner's inquest. The committee departed from the usual dull hearing format, presenting action-drama. The first four witnesses expressed the view of aggrieved, or even terrified, mothers, none expressed a father's viewpoint. The witnesses were:

• Jenny Latimer. She told the story of her son Kevin, fatally injured owing to inadequate supervision while under her estranged husband's care.
• Julie Craven. A woman in a bad marriage told of the loss of her son in a murder/suicide by her ex-husband.
• Witness X. A mother with a bad relationship tells of her frustration at inability to exile dad from her eight-year-old child's life.
• Annette Sackrider-Miller. She spoke for her eight-year-old son. It was surprising that the committee accepted this hearsay as evidence. Again, the story was frustration at inability to rid the family of dad.
• John Muise. This former cop spoke in favor of the bill.
• Judy Newman. She represented the Attorney General, and described the program for supervised access.
• Anne Marsden. She said that the provisions of the Child and Family Services Act are rarely followed — parents do not get the hearings required by law, and lawyers appointed for children do not represent their interest.
• Trinela Cane. She spoke for the Ministry of Children and Youth Services in support of the bill.

The Hatfields and the McCoys had a legendary feud. Imagine that when a Hatfield kills a McCoy, the story is reported in full, but when a McCoy kills a Hatfield, the story is suppressed. Readers will think (falsely) that the Hatfields are doing all the killing.

That is what bill 89 does. When a parent deprived of custody gets a child back and later kills it, we will get the news. But when a parent does not get a child back and CAS kills it, it will remain (as now) a secret.

While the aggrieved mothers giving testimony are deserving of sympathy, the solution is to disclose all child deaths, not just those fitting the CAS agenda.