| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Nothing is new under the sun, another tragedy of state-sponsored child removal. A 4-month old infant died after 6 days in foster home where many judges consider as a known safe place. The mother and her child happened to be collateral damage when "child protection" workers and the police entered her residence to remove the children of her roommate. After 30 minutes upon arrival on 5 April 2011, they shifted their focus on her and removed her infant together with other intended targets. As described by the CBC News article "Alberta judge allows ID of baby who died in care" on 13 October 2011 as Alberta's notoriously restrictive Child, Youth & Family Enhancement Act prohibits the media from identifying her or her daughter. This provincial statute contains provision of publication ban on the identity of children and guardians in child protection cases. The public is kept in the dark. The identity of the family was concealed until an Alberta Court of Queen's Bench judge lifted a publication ban on the identity on 13 October 2011 (Thursday). "The publication of Delonna Sullivan's name Pursuant to Section 126.2(2)(ii) of the Child Youth & Family Enhancement Act, is hereby granted," Justice M.D. Gates states in an order granted Thursday in Edmonton. The order was sought by Jamie Sullivan to facilitate her going public effort. Government lawyer Kate Bridget told the judge that the Alberta government took no position (ie. neither consents nor objects to) in the application, which is the shrewdest thing to do in the surrounding circumstance.
An affidavit was sworn after the removal that this mother appears to have a drinking problem and there was "disharmony in the house". Be mindful that these conclusions were drawn after meeting the mother for 15 to 30 minutes on their fateful 5 April encounter. The mother denied that she is alcoholic but admitted that she is a social drinker. She further added that she is no longer living with her roommate whose children are the target of removal and that her child was healthy and well cared for. It may take 5 months before the results of autopsy are available. Her lawyer Larry Edward McConnell, Q.C. who practiced in Whitecourt (a town 177 km northwest of Edmonton) said that the mother plans to sue the Province. He said that even the RCMP are culpable and the foster mother is to blame. He was shocked that "child protection" workers remove without a court order in a situation where there is no emergency or threat to child safety. After the removal, the mother and grandmother followed the workers to their office in Leduc (33 km south of Edmonton) for the purpose of fighting for access and to get her back. They were finally given a visit with the child. The despaired mother was gut wrenching to find marks on her child's head. The infant also had diarrhea and dried faeces on her. They asked the foster mother to take her to the hospital but the woman refused.
As common in many deaths of children in government "care", there is an allegation that authorities neglected to inform the mother of her infant's death for several hours. According to McConnell, the child died at 4 p.m., and the mother wasn't notified until 10 p.m. He plans to secure counselling for his two clients (the mother and grandmother), who he describes as shaken and devastated. In an interview with CTV, Alberta's Minister of Children and Youth Services Yvonne Fritz refused to comment on this ministry-created tragedy citing confidentiality. Like all children minister across the nation, she would only discuss removal in generality. She said that "child protection" workers will only remove if there is imminent risk to a child. In another interview with CBC, she alleged that this incident has not undermined public confidence in the foster care system. Rachel Notley, NDP MLA opposition critic, told reporters on 2 June 2011 that the child advocate plays a useless role as the advocate reports to the Minister and the Minister determines the nature of the information the advocate puts forward. On 6 June 2011, there was a small rally in front of the Alberta Legislature building in Edmonton. One of the speakers was Robert P. Lee, a lawyer from Edmonton, Alberta. Mr. Lee said that he receives calls on a constant basis from people who have been severely damaged by the child welfare system. The system is supposed to help them, not to harm them or kill them. Ironically, this case proves that "child protection" agency is the largest institutional risk to the safety of children, the integrity of families and the security of a nation. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Since this case was published, we received many inquiries of how to contact the mother so that help could be offered. Be mindful that Alberta law prohibits release of the identity of children and guardians in child protection cases. Please direct all inquires of this nature to the mother's lawyer Mr. Larry Edward McConnell at: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Lessons Learnt From This Case
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
References
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
[This page was added on 18 June 2011, last revised on 20 October 2011.]