More Power for CAS

September 28, 2006 permalink

On Wednesday, the Ontario Legislature enacted bill 89, Kevin and Jared's law. It provides that when a parent kills a child on an unsupervised visit, a coroner's inquest will be mandatory. There is no provision for an inquest when a child is harmed in non-parental care, and those cases will continue to remain secret. About once a year we can expect a coroner's jury to hand down a set of recommendations for more money and power for Children's Aid. The political impetus for this law came from a season of press criticism and legislative testimony on the horrors of the current child protection sham. The bureaucracy has turned this criticism to its advantage.

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Kevin and Jared's Law passes third reading

Sep, 26 2006 - 4:20 PM

HAMILTON (AM900 CHML) - "Kevin and Jared's Law" has passed third reading in the Ontario Legislature.

Burlington Conservative M-P-P Cam Jackson's private members bill will require a mandatory coroner's inquest when a child dies during a court-ordered access visit, after getting support from all parties.

Jackson presented the bill in memory of Jared Osidacz, an 8-year-old Brantford boy who died at the hands of his father, and Kevin Latimer who was not yet two years old when he fell out of the third floor window of a Hamilton apartment while under the supervision of his drunken father.

Jackson calls it a major step forward for victim's rights and justice in our province.

Hamilton-East New Democrat M-P-P Andrea Horwath adds that Bill 89 gives lawmakers a chance to learn from the tragic deaths of Kevin and Jared, and to change the system so that other children are removed from harm's way in the future.

Julie Craven says the bill won't ease the pain of losing Jared, but she says her son's legacy will live on.

- Ken Mann

Source: CHML Hamilton