Family-Centred Care Practice

Thank you for making the last two years a success! And the CBC.

 

Dear Ms. May,

 

I count you among the few real Canadian heroines that I recognize, right next to Jessica Ernst of Rosebud, Alberta and Velvet Martin of St. Albert, Alberta. Like these two other heroines you have strengthened democracy at a time when it is under systematic attack by Mr. Harper and the Tea Party we have inadvertently voted into power.

 

Your performance as an ethical representative of the people of Canada is much appreciated by ordinary middle class Canadians like myself, who recognize the slow but accumulating stripping away of individual and collective rights that are enshrined in our Constitution but are being decimated by the Tories and Liberals. I think there is a Third way in politics and I urge you to continue to be part of this third way that I hope the NDP will also work to establish.

 

What is the Third way?

It is the way of balance. We need to recognize the need for bitumen development but also the need for mitigating environmental effects. We need to regulate fracking and ensure surface water and aquifers as well as the land and air are not contaminated by radioactive and carcinogenic produced fracking water. We need to respect the rights of First Nations people. We need to become a new breed of Canadians who will actively participate in a democracy rather than a totalitarian state where even as I speak the CBC is under attack. The last bastion of minor free speech is being controlled by the Harperland folks.

 

I urge you to keep working for the public interest over the private interest. These are challenging times of opportunity. But will they be times of opportunity for all Canadians or for the 1% that control the agenda of federal, provincial and municipal governments? I urge all citizens to support the Green Party and the NDP for a Third way in governance.

 

Sincerely,

 

Julie Ali

 

More on CBC attack here:

 

Julie,

If Prime Minister Harper gets his way, the government would have more control over the CBC than it's ever had in the CBC’s 80-year history. This week, the Harper government snuck sweeping changes to the CBC deep into the last section of the budget -- on page 109 -- granting it disturbing powers to directly control and interfere with our national broadcaster.

Please sign and share our urgent petition to Prime Minister Harper and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to keep their hands off our national public broadcaster.

These changes deeply concern all Canadians. The government would be able to have dictatorial control over the terms and conditions of employment of non-union staff -- and any collective bargaining among unionized staff -- at the CBC and Radio Canada, even forcing the CBC to accept a member of the Treasury Board at the bargaining table. Let’s be honest, there’s no other good reason to make these changes unless your goal is to take over programming. This is just one part of Prime Minister Harper’s plan to control the Canadian media landscape and shift it to the right: clamping down on the CBC while his allies help Sun News get national carrier status.

Just imagine David Suzuki, Anna Maria Tremonti, Peter Mansbridge, Rick Mercer, Stuart McLean, George Stroumboulopoulos or programs like The National being controlled by Harper and his cabinet.

Sign our urgent petition to keep the CBC independent from government control.

Under these new rules, the CBC's government-appointed Board of Directors would now have to seek government approval to reach any agreement with CBC employees, putting CBC’s employees at risk.

The CBC was established in the 1930s to be an independent, vital voice for Canadians to get news and current affairs -- and its mandate even includes national unity. It’s had an independent, arms-length relationship with government for 80 years, and this independence is the cornerstone of democracy in Canada. These massive changes to the CBC undermine its independence, and threaten the core of a vital Canadian institution.

The SumOfUs.org community has already come together to fight against Sun Media’s attempt to get mandatory carrier status from the CRTC, and other allies and groups have been deeply involved in the fight to protect our CBC. SumOfUs's mission is to give consumers a voice in decisions critical to human rights, environment, and our democracy -- and as consumers, we have a right to an independent, high-quality media free from political influence. If we raise our voices together now, we can show Prime Minister Harper that we won't let him take control of our national broadcaster without a serious fight.

Sign our urgent petition to Prime Minister Harper and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty: Stay away from the CBC. Remove this amendment from the budget immediately.

Thanks for all that you do,

Angus, Emma, and the rest of us

 

*****************

Suggested Reading:

Budget bill gives Harper Cabinet new powers over CBC, The Hill Times. April 30, 2013.

Who We Are, What We Do, CBC/Radio Canada.

 

http://action.sumofus.org/a/cbc-harper/2/5/?akid=1647.1021322.vC6g1z&rd=1&sub=fwd&t=3

 

 

National database for foster care children in Canada --transparency and accountabilty

 

Dear Mr. Rajotte,

I am writing to you to request a national database to track all the children in care. In other words, I have no confidence that the children in the foster care system in the provinces or territories are being followed in any competent way by the folks we have in power who are supposed to be regulating the matter of child protection.

I am only surprised we do not have such a national database to begin with. How else are we to assess that status of our most vulnerable citizens who are not able to advocate for themselves and who lack for the most part the advocates who have educational, economic and legal background to provide protection when the system fails them?

 

What I am talking about is a database that has every detail of every child in care—in terms of health, education, foster family, transition plans, exceptional situations such as disability and the necessary programs provided. I want continuous follow through of each and every child submitted by the provinces and federal oversight when the provinces fail in their work.

 

I don’t care who has jurisdiction for these children. Ultimately we all do have the responsibility to ensure that each child in care becomes a thriving adult in our society who is capable of working, living and achieving his or her potential. Since a vast majority of the children in care are First Nations children it is already the federal government’s responsibility to work for the progress of our most disadvantaged children. Just based on what I have read about the conditions these children suffer before they enter the care of the provincial governments of Canada, it seems imperative that the federal government spend its money on our aboriginal children and families rather than the dumb expenditures on drones and helicopters.

 

I can’t for the life of me imagine what happens to ordinary Canadians when they become part of a government. Do you all forget that children –are the future citizens of this country? How do you all turn your backs against our children and turn to the daily items of government which in Alberta seem to revolve around corruption, secrecy and lies?

 

I happen to believe that such undistinguished performances in government will not be tolerated by Canadians. We are tired of paying for workers who do not perform. Please get going on this matter of instituting a national database for our children in care. We need information to ensure that our children make it to adulthood and then when released from the “care” of government, actually survive the transition.

 

Australia has national quality framework where all governments under its jurisdiction have come together to work for a coherent and evaluated system of care in the area of health and education for children. While their framework does not follow each case individually I see no reason why a database cannot be set up for each child in care so that when a child mysteriously dies in the care of the government—we –the people---can ask questions that will receive answers. We will not be constrained by the rules of FOIP that in my opinion serve only to protect the exposed behinds of provincial governments when they are negligent with the care of our children. I hope I am making myself clear here. What was tolerated in the past will no longer be tolerated because the federal and provincial government is not working with poor, disfranchised aboriginal families but some pretty riled up Conservative stay at home mummies from Alberta who will not give up the issue of the negligence of the Alberta government with reference to the children in care that they were responsible for and failed utterly.

 

Please refer to the information about Australia’s programs below under their national quality framework and get going on this matter.

If this federal government won’t do the work of taking care of our most vulnerable children –we –the mothers of children will do their work for them. We will simply vote you out and go the third way—we will vote NDP and ask this party to put our children FIRST. Yes, we will put our children first, and big oil and corporate Canada last.

 

If our governments at the provincial level will not come together then let mothers like myself join with Velvet Martin and do the work that they are failing to do to save the children in the “care” of our government.

 

Raise your voices Canada because I refuse to believe

that my child's life was for naught; surely we can prevent

further tragic outcome! Velvet Martin, Protecting Canadian Children

 

Sincerely,

Julie Ali

 

http://www.childcarecanada.org/documents/research-policy-practice/13/05/australian-childrens-education-care-quality-authority-natio

Australian Children's Education & Care Quality Authority - National registers

“It’s important to have the full context. It’s a fairly technical review and we’ll release it in the fullness of time,” Hughes said.

 

 

The lawyers in the government of Alberta have sat down and reorganized the area of children’s services so as to limit their liability.

That’s what I get out of the spin from today’s chatter about how everything is going to be altered in the area of children’s services in Alberta.

How cynical can this government get?

Apparently very cynical.

You have Mr. Hancock intoning purely that Bill 25 will solve major problems in many areas of services to children and their families and yet the government itself has cut funding to these same services.

I mean how can they yap about laws to help children when they are removing money from services for children and vulnerable adults? You only have to think about the places that service our most vulnerable citizens that have closed down and are closing down right now such as the Michener Centre in rampart cost saving moves—to understand that the money that is necessary to provide adequate services and supports for our most vulnerable citizens –is being denied to these folks and changing laws, regulations, policies won’t do anything to alter the situation of these folks because without money—there is no change. You only have to think folks to realize that you cannot provide the requirements of the law unless you have the money to back up the requirements. I will give an example from Edmonton Public Schools. If EPS does not have money to pay for special education aides for their most demanding special needs students—guess what? It doesn’t matter if the standards for special education exist—there is no money and that aide will be cut. So having a new law providing even more of such standards—won’t make any difference until the government of Alberta puts accurate levels of funding for the special needs children in Edmonton Public Schools.

This law—Bill 25 is a whitewash and it doesn’t do the job of whitewashing the dirty messes of the Tories in all areas of children’s services. Do I believe Mr. Hancock’s positive spin? Nope.

As for where the money went---I believe $300,000 of it went to pay for budget propaganda that tries to convince Albertans that the promise they made to provide sustained funding for Edmonton Public Schools for 3 years was impossible because of that silly bitumen bubble business.

In reality the reason we did not get sustainable funding for EPS was because of bad governance by the Tories and poor fiscal management over an astounding four decades and more. It is hard to believe how they could have spent all the money but there you go. Maybe they have offshore accounts stuffed with our oil revenues? I can’t believe that all the money we earned from bitumen royalties was spent on fine wines and BMW repairs by the executives at AHS. Surely some of it was spent by our happy go lucky Tory employees? I can’t believe our Heritage Trust fund is almost zilch. It will be a miracle if we don’t end up bankrupt as in the case of Iceland. What saved Iceland was a session of citizens taking back their country. In other words folks, the citizens of Iceland said hell no, we are not going to take it anymore and they took back their democracy:

http://www.newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-news/3057-a-story-missing-from-our-media-icel A story missing from our media: Iceland's on-going revolution

It is wise to stop the hurry and rushing just before Mother's Day and think about the precious babies. Are We Doing Enough?

 

http://readingchildrensbooks.blogspot.ca/2013/05/are-we-doing-enough-post-1-what-are.html

I took my Power in my Hand – / And went against the World – Emily Dickinson (Poem 660)

Saturday, May 11, 2013Are we doing enough? --Post # 1 What are the priorities of the government of Alberta?---Bitumen or our children?

 

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/tribunal-hears-first-nations-child-welfare-case-does-ottawa-discriminate-1.1170503

Tribunal hears First Nations child welfare case: Does Ottawa discriminate?

Canada AM: Fighting for First Nations children

 

 

Attorney Paul Champ says there is much evidence, and explains why the issue involving aboriginal children is a human rights violation.

CTV National News: Child welfare gaps

 

 

A human rights tribunal is hearing claims that government discrimination is hurting Aboriginal children. Daniele Hamamdjian has the numbers.

CTV News Channel: Feds failing native children?

 

 

Human rights lawyer Paul Champ says today was a big day as this case has taken six years to get to this point due to legal wrangling.

12

CTVNews.ca Staff
Published Monday, February 25, 2013 8:42AM EST
Last Updated Monday, February 25, 2013 3:53PM EST

The living conditions of thousands of aboriginal children living on Canada’s reserves will be front and centre as a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal case gets underway.

The issue at the core of the 14-week hearing -- which started Monday -- is federal funding of child welfare services on reserves.

The Assembly of First Nations and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society allege that the federal government is discriminating against First Nations families and children by funding child welfare at amounts that are far less than what’s provided by provincial governments off of reserves.

Canadian Guidelines on Auditory Processing Disorder in Children and Adults: Assessment and Intervention were released today by the Canadian Interorganizational Steering Group for Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CISG)

 

http://readingchildrensbooks.blogspot.ca/2013/05/are-we-doing-enough-post-3-yea-though-i.html

Saturday, May 11, 2013Are we doing enough? --Post # 3 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: For thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; Thou annointest my head with oil; My cup runneth over. The 23rd Psalm “I am concerned the ERCB has allowed the project to go ahead without dealing with residents’ current concerns,” said Wanda Laurin, a teacher who lives in Peace River. “The odour has got increasingly bad, but the ERCB is still giving out licenses like it is candy.“To me, this is just unconscionable. I am sick about it. It seems like a dereliction of duty.” The application filed for the project calls for it to be developed in two phases, with 810 thermal-injection wells drilled from 18 pads in the initial phase. The company has proposed to use technology that it says will capture emissions and regenerate them for other purposes.

Since I am a cowardly sort I sometimes have to go to the childhood lessons in Sunday school to remember courage.
The 23 rd Psalm is a bracing poem that addresses fear.

When we do something that we believe in -----we may still be afraid to do the work of change.
Fear is an emotion as is love.
When you dance with the wolves you need a fire stick in your hand.
Make a god of love and call that your Muse.
When you dance with the Muse as the fire stick in your hand pretend that you will not be harmed by them.
Pretend you are inviolate.
Become fearless.

Basically you are to use whatever tools you have to---in order to get yourself off your knees.
When you are down in the dumps you need a backbone and so find your ribs, sternum and vertebral column wherever you can.

Here is one bracing poem to keep your courage up before we go to post #3.

 

http://www.rwf2000.com/23pslm.htm

 

 

 

 

 

The Ten Commandments - John 3:16 - The Lord's Prayer
The Golden Rule! - Sermon on the Mount

 

The 23rd Psalm

The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name' sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: For thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;
Thou annointest my head with oil; My cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever.
-- KJV

Now that you have your backbone in place you can begin reading the third post.

It is always useful to have a faith of some sort to keep you going.
Your god may be whatever you decide on but make one for the journey and hold his hand to keep you strong.

Becoming a change-maker requires a god of love.

http://www.cps.ca/en/advocacy-defense/status-report

when will you all change your hearts?

 

where you might be

is in the hands and feet

of the willows

 

or in the spread of the ferns

as they lay down their bodies

for you to step on them

 

perhaps you might be in the wet

of the rain as she covers the land

with a bowl of water

 

or as she scatters the droplets

to plop on the fruit you might be

walking in the meadows of the mountains

 

where the columbine plait

their blue and yellow petals

to make a hybrid tune

 

you might be in the swallow

and the bee that dip and dive

to make their lives plain to us

 

you might be in the river’s ruckus

as he stamps with his blue boots over the rocks

that he kicks forth as he goes

 

you might be in the blue stare of the skies of Alberta

that gaze that is in the heavens above us

that simplifies to darkness at night time

 

 

you might be the skip and dance of the wind

as she rolls up her leaves into a rug and lets down the skirts

to fall to pieces along the driveway where the nakedness is plain

 

of every tree that hug their branches as their papery clothes scatter on the grasses

you might be in the dreams that are shattered or in the peel of the orange

that is segmented and given out you might be in the sharp taste of the rind itself

 

but wherever you are the song comes forth

I sit and acknowledge you the land is a cup that holds your singing

when I drink your song what was broken returns to wholeness

 

there is nothing in our lives but continual fracture

but we can still go forth with elasticity because we have a song to make

that no one can take away from each of us that song is of life itself

 

we make the song when we go on

and do not give up the work of love

I set the song of today down on the shapely body of the world

 

and I do not yield to the darkness

I am indomitable I forget the last failure

and keep going I understand that we will fail and not succeed

 

in our aims but this will not matter in the end

for each of us will be a small part of the endless work

of mankind we lay ourselves down for the change that is ours in some future time

 

and we do not say that our part in the work was not needed

we set down the song of each day and keep going

we work for a future that is coming and when it comes

 

each of us will have done our part

to change the heart which is what is required

for the world to change we are to change the heart

 

 

in each of us and from this change in the heart

everything that was once impossible becomes a constant alteration

we go forth without a map or a goal but we understand that what we do

 

is essential we are working

for a new world for our children

in Alberta and in Canada and from this country

 

to the rest of the world where the children are dying

the people will no longer be ignored for the mothers will not give up

we are going forth in small ways in our constant failures and we honor

 

the children who have already died

they are the ones who have been crucified

and we put them in our poems so that you might see

 

that these were real children

who belonged to mothers

and they are disappeared now

 

when will you all change your hearts?

when will you begin the work we ask of government?

the work begins in the heart that is shielded from our words

 

you must take that heart

and break it as our hearts have been broken

and from that dissolution will begin the change that we are asking for

 

we will not give up the work

we are the mothers of children who ask for justice for those who have died

the dead speak to us and walk down the lines of our poems to appear before you all

 

we want our government to change the way they treat us

they must take us into the government family for the citizens understand

we are ignored and treated as the enemy we are to be the ones who you all obey

 

and from this acknowledgement must come

the new relationship between us

that will hold the child as precious

 

 

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/04/24/bkay/

 

 Barbara Kay: Attacking the root of children’s aid societies’ rot

Raise your voices Canada because I refuse to believe that my child's life was for naught; surely we can prevent further tragic outcome! Velvet Martin, Protecting Canadian Children

 

http://readingchildrensbooks.blogspot.ca/2013/05/seen-this-before-may-1-2013-920-am.html

 

I took my Power in my Hand – / And went against the World – Emily Dickinson (Poem 660)

Wednesday, May 1, 2013seen this before May. 1, 2013 9:20 AM Abuse Well this is interesting. As an old timer I well remember the days before MSP. I remember families with mentally or developmentally challenged children (forget the over 18 bit) have to make these decisions all the time. There were no 'free help' then. Many babies and children were turned over to institutions because there were no free assistance unless the child became a ward of the state. I get tired of people blaming previous generations for wanting to 'hide their kids in institutions'. It wasn't that way at all and this is the very thing happening again but the age is older. Cambob in Toronto May. 1, 2013 1:37 AM Abuse The system is us. All of us. This is our society. We value money and humanity and it is awfully hard to balance both. Either we pay for large scale institutions capable of providing a suitable level of care, or we turn these people out on the street and ignore their suffering.

 

I have made a room

in the house

where you can reside

I don’t know who you are

and I am lost

but I give in to the desire

to know your face

I am not sure what this is all about

but I am obedient

I follow you

and when you weep

I lay myself down for you

and say the words

that speak

of the children

 

 

you must understand

I am not able to do your work

which is all about courage

 

 

here is the end of the day again

where I have not done a single thing

that mattered

I have run about with family

and my mother like a dog

herding sheep

and I can’t say what the day

was all about

certainly it went fast

the ice has gone from the land

and I am sure

that the garden is now awake

but I have not visited her

nor have I read the books I promised to read

 

 

you must understand

I am not able to do your work

which is all about courage

 

 

the power that is in us

will stay as powder

until we light ourselves

and begin the hard work of

channelling our energies

we are to go towards the future

where our children are considered

more important than bitumen and natural gas

when they take our children into care

what do they do to the family and the child?

what do they do to the relationships of trust

between us?

 

you must understand

I am not able to do your work

which is all about courage

 

 

here is the child

and here is the mother

as the story was once of

a Christ and his mother

we have forgotten the story

in every way

and is the reason we no longer believe

in him? because the child has been betrayed?

I put down the story so that you might see

how our bitumen masters are in charge of the child

how our governments bow down to the priests of oil

meanwhile the mother cries as she lets the child go

because the buggers we have hired know nothing about the truth

what is important has been fracked all to hell

the child is suffering

the child is suffering

 

 

 

 

you must understand

I am not able to do your work

which is all about courage

 

 

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/brutal-decision-couple-gives-up-son-with-autism-to-government-1.1261118#commentsForm-392518

 

 

 

'Brutal decision': Couple gives up son with autism to government

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/brutal-decision-couple-gives-up-son-with-autism-to-government-1.1261118#ixzz2S6iZzNgZ

 

“We have already closed three institutions with no incidents and no public outcry,” Uditsky said. “Even if this is all you know, I think you owe it to people with developmental disabilities to consider the possibility that there might be something better

 

 

there are so many of us

how will they fool all of us?

 

 

 

I polish the Third eye

and remember you

 

what you meant to me

and how I made you out of mud and space

 

in the gap between concrete and future intangibles

the store of the imagination begins to fill again

 

the heron stops the leak in the river with his plug of feathers

and the bullet of the spy that is the Blue Jay shrieks me awake

 

I can’t be making all day and yet

I don’t move to take the time in a rug and roll it up

 

I polish the Third eye

and speak out of what was seen

 

they make myths to frighten children

and I am grown up now

 

 

I do not believe in their lies

that speak of success

 

the bodies lie stacked in the mass graves

of their wars why would I believe them?

 

they make myths to frighten children

and I am grown up now

 

the store of the imagination

is all I need for the future that comes

 

the future that I make

out of words and acts of love

 

we will no longer believe

in what we have been given as the ways out of desperation

 

instead we will stand aloof

and begin each day without their assistance

 

we will walk upright

and not fall on our knees before them

 

who have betrayed us

and our children

 

 

we will no longer go on believing our leaders

who are all of foam cells in the brain that deteriorates

 

we the people

will be the leaders for our children

 

we will march

and take our country back

 

from those that have betrayed us

in our innocence and taught beliefs of foolishness

 

we were once children

but we are now grown up

 

and we will work each day

to save our children

 

from the lies and myths of the leaders

who are the pawns for the corporations

 

the 1% control the herds of the people

and will continue to do this unless

 

we join hands mother to mother

citizen to citizen and say no we will not stand any more of this

 

control by the few

over the lives of the people of Canada

 

we were children

but we are now grown up

 

and we want our government

to obey us the will of the people trumps every law

 

they impose on us

and we will prove this

 

in the very next elections

we are angry at the betrayal by those we have hired

 

and yet we are kind

we wait for the next election to prove our will

 

there are so many of us

how will they fool all of us?

 

our children matter

and do not think we will give up

 

our family counts

and not the oil companies

 

remember this

as you go about your duties

 

that we have given you

we the people of Canada are the real masters of this country

 

as you will all learn

when we vote you all out

 

 

they make myths to frighten children

and I am grown up now

 

 

 

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/health/Cost+cutting+behind+Alberta+decision+shut+Michener/8223126/story.html

Cost-cutting behind Alberta’s decision to shut Michener Centre, NDP charges

http://readingchildrensbooks.blogspot.ca/2013/05/this-is-problem-with-silence.html

I took my Power in my Hand – / And went against the World – Emily Dickinson (Poem 660)

Saturday, May 4, 2013Our success is huge and it is hugely empty.

This is the problem with silence. You cannot hold acid inside of you for it will burn a hole in you.

When you have had your child hurt or even destroyed because the folks you trusted did not do their jobs you can either turn inwards in this fatal way--- and become damaged or you can turn outwards and do the work of love.

In the case of Velvet Martin, she choose to transform her family's tragedy into a work of love.
This work of love has been endless and ongoing and she does it because I believe she has no choice.
Her daughter calls out to her from the grave to do the work of saving the little children in the foster care system.

When we ----as citizens living privileged lives----- ignore the call to action of suffering children in the care of the government who are vulnerable because they are disabled and lack adult advocates then how do we continue to call ourselves members of a civilized society?

I am not speaking of pity here. I am speaking of action.

We are not to chatter and say and stop there.
We are to act for change.
We are to support the work of leaders like Velvet Martin who work on behalf of the marginalized members of our society who do not have the economic, educational and legal clout to protect themselves or their children.

If we do not do the work of activism we are failures no matter how successful we are economically and in terms of our status in society.


The main backbone of our society is the family.
If we work for the family and every child born to that family no matter what the social, political or economic disruptions are the bonds of love will prevail to help the society continue.

But if the family is torn asunder and the child is destroyed what are we to say about our society?
What are we to say about our success?
I would say our success would be pointless.
When the child dies, the success we enjoy is one of hypocrisy and selfishness.
We have turned ourselves into churches of the self.

Our success is huge and it is hugely empty.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KCg6T7xCUY

The Samantha Martin Story

Saturday, May 11, 2013Are we doing enough? --Post # 2---- It is a sad matter but I actually think the government at the provincial and federal levels don’t give a damn about our children.

 

http://www.cps.ca/en/advocacy-defense/status-report

 

Home > Advocacy > Are We Doing Enough?

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Are We Doing Enough?A status report on Canadian public policy and child and youth health

 

 

The Canadian Pediatric Society is made of a whole bunch of physicians with clout but they don’t have any ability to change Harper and crew.

 

Only we –the people—can do this matter of changing the fixed anti-aboriginal and anti-child mindset of the Wildrosies in Ottawa.

 

 

What do we need to tell Mr. Harper about aboriginal child health?

 

We need to tell him that there must be the political will in place ASAP to address the needs of our most vulnerable citizens—the special needs children, the poor, the aboriginal children, the foster care children—and it is our duty as citizens to get the government out of “do –little or do-nothing” stance to the place of active participation, leadership and vision.

 

 

If there is no political will for looking after the needs of these children, if we are to have a second genocide of First Nations children, if we are to watch the Nazis take the Jews again—then –I for one will not stand by silently while this happens.

 

I don’t care which political party has to be hired---but we will get a party in with the political will to deal with the problems of our most disadvantaged citizens because mummies of Alberta will only vote for the parties with the political will to do this work.

 

This report indicates why government must be leaders in the matter—the fact is—a central organizing system is the most effective and efficient way of delivering change to our babies:

 

http://www.cps.ca/advocacy/StatusReport2012.pdf

 

Legislative and regulatory actions can strengthen parents

 

and families in their efforts to raise healthy, safe and

 

competent children. There are many examples of how

legislation and public policy have improved conditions for

children and youth, such as seat belt and helmet laws. This

report reviews current policy on several fronts, suggests

improvements and brings critical issues to the forefront of

the public policy agenda.

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Public policy in the hands of generous human beings in power can change the world.

Public policy in the hands of free loaders who take from the public purse to feed the private vested interests that pay them back in election donations---will not change the world. They will destroy the world and our children with it.

 

Mummies of Alberta will not stand by while they screw our children.

We will work day and night to ensure that children are not destroyed.

 

But we need to learn the tools of power.

Let us start with the CPS report and go from there.

Advocacy requires that you first change yourself –mummies of Alberta.

Then after you change yourself—you learn the tools of change.

Then you work with other mummies like Velvet Martin to join up as activists for children.

 

Velvet Martin advocates for our most powerless families and their children. She was called to do this work after her experiences with her daughter, Samantha in the foster care system in Alberta. Currently there has been no efforts made by the children's and youth advocate in Alberta to include parents like Velvet Martin in the ongoing efforts to improve services for children in Alberta. Why not?

 

I would say that any sort of activism in Alberta that is critical of the negligence of the government with reference to foster care children that they are responsible for is met with a defensive response rather than an inclusive productive resolution of errors, problems and deaths. The children who die in the foster care system are signs of lethal mistakes and the parents of these children must not be shut out by the government of Alberta or by the advocate's office. This is a mistake that will only further exacerbate the wounds in this community of mothers.

 

What is the solution to the problems in the government of Alberta? I would insight, a dedication to public service over private service, the complete purging of the public body of Tory hanger-ons and cronyism, a return to the work of government rather than the work of booming in a frankly unsustainable manner--and the frank disclosure of what happened in these child welfare files. If the mother of the child wants the answers, and gives up her child's privacy then why will the government of Alberta not provide the inquiry that will give us the full story of what happened to Samantha Martin in the foster care system? Is this because, the government is culpable? Is this because, just like in the case of the physician intimidation inquiry that never happened these folks were bullies and criminals? We won't know will we until we have a new government in that reveals what happened and did not happen in the case of Samantha Martin.