Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 01, 2013, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A10 EDITORIALS WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013 Freedom of Trade Liberty of Religion Equality of Civil Rights A 10 COMMENT EDITOR: Gerald Flood 204697- 7269 gerald. flood@ freepress. mb. ca winnipegfreepress. com EDITORIAL C OMMISSIONER Ted Hughes can retire now to the quiet of his office to contemplate the reams of evidence collected during 91 days of testimony that described some of the tragically short life of Phoenix Sinclair. There is no doubt, as child- welfare officials agree, state intervention - and lack thereof - badly failed the five- year- old, brutally murdered by her mother and stepfather in 2005. Mr. Hughes' task is to filter through the details of who did what, when and why to recommend ways to keep children from being left in the hands of dangerous parents or caregivers. Samantha Kematch, in prison for firstdegree murder, was Phoenix's mother but she was no parent. Despite ample signs of her inability to care for Phoenix, child- welfare agencies and those closest to the girl let her fall back into Kematch's hands. Phoenix's days were numbered when Kematch began living with Karl Wesley McKay, a man documented as criminally violent, and an abiding danger to women and children. Numerous reports laid out the many errors of commission and omission by a multitude of CFS workers who touched Phoenix's file - from her birth in 2000 to just months before she was slain, CFS was frequently involved, or alerted, that the girl was in peril. Successive Family Services ministers insist those reports must be hidden from public scrutiny, but that is untrue and unnecessary. If findings about the weight of caseload described in the review of CFS's involvement with Phoenix had been known publicly in 2006, change could have come faster. This is just one obvious aspect of the value of public accountability. An analysis of how well vulnerable children fare over time by the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy found kids involved with CFS have the worst outcomes. Why? Because they were scarred from their earliest years, or because CFS response was inadequate: too little, too late? Many children live in a succession foster or group homes before " aging" out of the system to fend for themselves. A running narrative in the testimony from those closest to Phoenix - her father Steve Sinclair, her surrogate parents and other relatives - was that the little girl was surrounded by love and, until Kematch reclaimed her in 2004, was bright, well- adjusted, happy, healthy. " Incredible," was how Rohan Stephenson described her. And all of those who loved her did what they could to keep Phoenix out of the clutches of child- welfare agencies. That was not just to keep Phoenix close, but because they had a deep- seated distrust of CFS, much of it from personal experience. This is the primary challenge of the agencies tasked to protect children and help families. Front- line services must be organized to separate the role of apprehension from that of offering help. Mr. Hughes' thoughts on how that can be done, drawing from experience in other jurisdictions, would be useful. Finally, not one of the intervenors who offered summary advice to the commissioner this week called for the professional regulation of child- welfare workers who wield substantial power over the lives of parents and children. The provincial government has not proclaimed legislation passed in 2009 to require mandatory registration of social workers. There is a lot of opposition to establishing a self- regulating college to licence and monitor the professional work of social workers - many front- line workers do not hold social work degrees. The use of the term " social worker" should be restricted, and those wielding statutory power to intervene in the lives of families and children ought to meet professional ethical and training standards and be held accountable for their conduct. Commissioner Hughes must make it clear Manitoba, the lone holdout in Canada, can no longer allow child- welfare workers to escape professional accountability. Huge step forward In the wake of the Gibson family tragedy, I feel compelled to say how proud I am to be a part of the Winnipeg community. Throughout the coverage in all forms of the media and the public in general, there has been not a whisper of laying blame or sensationalism. Instead there has been an outpouring of overwhelming sadness and empathy, as well as suggestions for resources for other women who find themselves in such unspeakable pain, along with the assurance that help is possible. What a huge step forward in understanding mental- health issues and showing it the kindness it deserves. SANDRA MIRECKI Winnipeg �� Why would the Free Press publish a front page like you did on July 30? Such a beautiful motherdaughter picture, such a blatant reminder to an already devastated city of citizens crying for the family and this tremendous tragedy. Why can you not just report without exploiting? NADINE GIRARD Winnipeg �� Regarding Gary Lombaert's July 30 letter of the day, Same cause, different response , both tragedies were unimaginable. The incident Lombaert describes as a middle- aged Asian immigrant taking the life of a stranger refers to the brutal killing of my nephew, Tim McLean. One of the significant differences in these two tragedies is that one was witnessed by many onlookers whose lives will never be the same. They will be traumatized for the rest of their lives. Brian Gibson will not have to sit in yearly review board hearings with the killer of his wife and children. I am very sorry for the Gibson family's loss and have prayed for their healing. I am also not agreeing or disagreeing with Lombaert's views. He is correct in saying " mental illness is mental illness no matter whom it strikes." But I am wondering why the Free Press would choose to print this as the letter of the day on the fifth anniversary of his death. Our family is re- victimized by the press once again. LINDA LAMIRANDE Winnipeg �� I am disturbed that a reader states that people sympathize with Lisa Gibson because she was a pretty young white woman, while they were outraged by Vince Li because he is a middleaged Asian man. Gibson sought help when she realized she had problems. She even apparently suggested that she be treated in a facility to protect her children. From what I recall, Li had previously had problems and had not sought treatment. There is nothing similar in these two situations. JOANNE PALANIUK Winnipeg �� Your July 30 sidebar Help for postpartum depression is a good resource for women in Winnipeg. It is important to also recognize that obstetricians, pediatricians, social workers, nurses on the maternal newborn units and in ambulatory care in the Winnipeg birthing hospitals are also excellent resources for women to obtain help for women's postpartum mental- health issues. DR. MARGARET MORRIS WRHA Women's Health Program �� I want to commend your paper for the respectful reporting on the Lisa Gibson story. KIM HILDEBRAND Winnipeg Suppressing aboriginals Janice Isopp has it right ( Leaders send weak signals , Letters, July 23). Not one person in government wants to rectify the aboriginal situation. Politicians just want their pension so they can retire before they are forced to make any decision. But once the decision is made, there will be a whole lot of people out of work. There are more people employed to look after aboriginals than there are aboriginals on welfare. Our government has suppressed the aboriginals so badly, but they are slowly turning around. The message our leaders are sending out is that it's OK to do whatever you want to human beings. All you have to do is buy them off or just say " sorry." Well, news flash, the bogeyman is catching up with you. DIANA FRANTZ Winnipeg Real spanking agenda I for one fully agree with Randy Kroeker when he writes that he appreciates " how difficult it is to translate academic research into something that is understandable to the newspaper readership" ( A meaningless number , Letters, July 20). Prof. Tracie Afifi's real agenda appears to be to change Canada's laws on spanking. But to conclude that spanking has health risks is stretching her research results a bit too far. KIM TRETHART Winnipeg Acting out of habit The final comment by Ron Corner in your July 29 story When gangsters rule the streets strikes me as ironic: " And we're all creatures of habit." Our lawmakers are certainly creatures of habit with their hidebound attitude in dealing with the drug problem. Alcohol prohibition failed to eliminate drinking and created a thriving criminal enterprise to supply demand. The same thing has happened with drug prohibition, and politicians cannot, or will not, concede that a new approach is needed. When thousands of serving police officers and sitting judges, members of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, think it's time for decriminalization, we should listen. MICHAEL DOWLING Winnipeg Sensible and courageous Congratulations to the sensible and courageous writer Don Marks ( Canada's history of denial, July 24). I believe my job description as a human being doesn't include feeling guilty for the sins of others. Rather, I think my responsibility ( in my own small way) is to help the victims, regardless of who, what or where they are. I'd call it universal compassion, and in terms of effectiveness it's about as far away as you can get from the world's worst motivator: guilt by association and it's natural defensive offspring, denial. Marks is unequivocally right. I'm also sure he would agree that the change in attitude he advocates will, unfortunately, require a paradigm shift in people's thinking. BARRY CRAIG Winnipeg HAVE YOUR SAY: The Free Press welcomes letters from readers. Include the author's name, address and telephone number. Letters may be edited. Letters to the Editor, 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, R2X 3B6. Fax 204- 697- 7412. Email letters@ freepress. mb. ca Letters represent the opinions of their writers and do not reflect the opinions of the Winnipeg Free Press or its staff. �� LETTER OF THE DAY Re: QB wows Toronto crowds ( July 31). A third- string Argo quarterback Zach Collaros leads his team to a 38- 12 win over the B. C. Lions? Zach Collaros? Never heard of him. Sadly, neither have the Winnipeg Blue Bombers scouting staff. RONN ENNS Winnipeg Scouting in wrong direction Toronto Argonaut quarterback Zach Collaros in action Tuesday. Require social work standards WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES Justice Ted Hughes A_ 12_ Aug- 01- 13_ FP_ 01. indd A10 7/ 31/ 13 9: 49: 34 PM ;