Children deserve better than Liberal spin

What PEI has with creation of the Office of Children and Youth, and appointment of deputy minister Michele Dorsey as children’s commissioner and advocate, is spin combined with government’s attempt to quietly fix a broken bureaucracy.

As a response to inquest recommendations, the premier created what he calls a ‘hub model’, with a stated goal of ensuring cases do not again fall through bureaucratic cracks. It has yielded some success and improvements. But frontline workers say it is far from perfect and there are children still not receiving the support required.

Premier MacLauchlan’s announcement, with a $600,000 annual budget, simply institutionalizes the hub model while growing the bureaucracy. The system may offer some improvement in navigating government programming or the legal system, but it is an office without real power. The commissioner does not have the independence or authority to challenge government or firmly defend the rights of children in need.

Use of the word ‘advocate’ is a political sleight of hand aimed at convincing Islanders the new office is something it is not. Independent.

It follows a predictable style of artificial public oversight preferred by the MacLauchlan government.

Health care is run by an appointed board of directors of one.

Education is run by a three person appointed board, that includes the deputy minister of education.

Whistleblower legislation demands concerns first be brought to a senior manager.

Now Island children are again denied access to an independent voice of support; forced to trust a bureaucracy with an often spotty record, riven by internal divisions and lacking adherence to proper protocols and procedures.

Not mentioned in government spin are serious issues impacting the delivery of services provided by the Maintenance Support Program and Child Support Guidelines offices within the Department of Justice. Last fall a report prepared by HRA Atlantic outlined a ‘toxic’ work environment that includes: bullying, lack of management expertise, confusion over the chain of command and conflict between the two offices. In total 21 recommendations were made.

The premier’s announcement appears a silent, but direct response, to an HRA call to examine the management structure of the Family Law Centre.

I asked for a copy of the HRA report under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The MacLauchlan government, which trumpets transparency, is refusing to release the report in its entirety. We are appealing the decision. We believe government’s interpretation of the FOIPP Act is without legal merit and intentionally restrictive. It is very much in the public interest to know what issues are impacting the delivery of services to some of our most vulnerable citizens.

By putting secrecy ahead of public interest, the Liberal administration only strengthens the argument for appointment of a true child advocate.

Our ‘made in PEI’ solution is a Liberal political decision.

It is not independent. It is not arm’s-length of executive council. It does not have true investigative authority. It is not a bonafide child advocate, as defined by every other province.

It is shameful.

What exactly does PEI know that every other province does not? How will the Liberal plan build public trust? How will government’s strategy to bury issues before an election build confidence within the public service still comprised in large part of employees simply wanting to do what is right in a nontoxic environment?

How does the premier’s lack of transparency honour those who the system has failed?

It doesn’t. Because political expediency serves political masters, not those most in need.

Paul MacNeill is Publisher of Island Press Limited. He can be contacted at paul@peicanada.com