No Foul Play : Death in Thunder Bay - The Case of Stacy DeBungee - the f...

SOMETHING STILL STINKS IN THE CORONER'S OFFICE...



Christie Blatchford: 'Bullying' Ontario chief forensic pathologist accused of interfering with cases.



Dr. Jane Turner, who worked almost two years at the Hamilton Regional Forensic Pathology Unit, made the allegations in a letter to the Solicitor General



Dr. Michael Pollanen, Chief Forensic Pathologist for Ontario. "No one is allowed to challenge his views." a former colleague says.Geoff Robins/Postmedia/File.



In a case that parallels a scathing judge’s decision about Ontario’s chief forensic pathologist two years ago, Dr. Michael Pollanen has been accused of interfering in the work of the province’s other forensic pathologists, pressing them to change their findings in suspicious deaths and undermining those who disagree with him.



Dr. Jane Turner, a forensic pathologist who worked for almost two years at the Hamilton Regional Forensic Pathology Unit and is now working as a consultant in St. Louis, Mo., made the allegations in an Aug. 12 letter to Ontario Solicitor General Sylvia Jones.



“My complaint against Dr. Pollanen is not that I am always right and Dr. Pollanen is always wrong, but rather that his interference, bullying and insistence on compliance threaten the integrity of the system of death investigation,” Turner told Jones.



“No one is allowed to challenge his views.”



READ MORE HERE:



https://nationalpost.com/opinion/christie-blatchford-bullying-ontario-chief-forensic-pathologist-accused-of-interfering-with-cases



READING MUSIC:



https://youtu.be/TuCGiV-EVjA



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Ontario's chief forensic pathologist wants to see autopsies done in Thunder Bay.



(HERE COMES THE COVERUP SQUAD)



Michael Pollanen says OIPRD's call for Thunder Bay forensic pathology unit 'directly aligns' with his vision.



Ontario's chief forensic pathologist says he agrees with the recommendation made by Ontario's independent police watchdog that calls for the capacity for autopsies to be done in Thunder Bay but adds it's ultimately up to the province's community safety ministry whether a forensic pathology unit is set up in the northwestern Ontario city.



Ontario Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) Gerry McNeilly released a highly-critical, 200-plus page report in December into systemic racism in the Thunder Bay Police Service which makes dozens of recommendations. Most are aimed at the local force but several call on the chief coroner's and chief forensic pathologist's offices to improve communication and coordination between each other and police investigators when probing deaths in Thunder Bay.



'Racist attitudes' contributed to poor Indigenous death investigations by Thunder Bay police, report says



https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/thunder-bay-oiprd-report-1.4942388



'As tragic as it is unsurprising': leaders react to report on systemic racism in Thunder Bay police



https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/thunder-bay-police-report-systemic-racism-reaction-1.4942775



One of those recommendations calls for a forensic pathology unit in the city so autopsies can be performed locally. McNeilly's report stated that "there are significant challenges affecting the ultimate quality and timeliness of [police] investigations in not having a forensic pathology unit in Thunder Bay and in the requirement that [police] officers must be sent to Toronto for autopsies."



"The suggestion or the recommendation of producing a regional forensic pathology in Thunder Bay directly aligns with our vision for the death investigation system," Dr. Michael Pollanen, Ontario's chief forensic pathologist told CBC News.



"We will work with the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services and our senior management team to progress that recommendation."



Currently, the vast majority of autopsies ordered on deaths in Thunder Bay are done in Toronto.



Ontario does have a system of regional units, usually set up in partnership with teaching hospitals and medical schools, Pollanen said but in the north, there are only two such units in Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie. Having "regional capacity" for autopsies helps to keep the death investigation process running smoothly, he added.



https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/wicked-deeds/201907/facts-and-fictions-about-serial-killers



"It also allows for the seamless communication because the autopsies are occurring in the geographical area where the police are present, where the Crown Attorneys are present, where the local defence bar is present," he said.



"So in other words ... this regional or community approach is a highly effective way of delivering service."



Pollanen added that, ultimately, he'd like to see the regional model extended to include Kenora as well.



Chief coroner, forensic pathologist 'embrace' OIPRD recommendations

Improving communication between police, coroners and pathologists, while front-and-centre in McNeilly's recommendations to Pollanen and chief coroner Dirk Huyer, has already started, Huyer said.



A specific framework, or set of guidelines, for death investigations was developed while the police oversight body was conducting its investigation, Huyer said, adding that the framework effectively focuses on how best to manage communication and information-sharing between agencies.



That's crucial for investigations in Thunder Bay, officials said, due to the geographical distance from Toronto.



"We identified challenges that had occured both in our experience with investigations of death but also identified by the OIPRD and we've specifically outlined those, we've highlighted those," Huyer said. "We've pointed out the structure and the approach that should be — must be — taken for each of the death investigations that have the high attention ... type of case management."



"By bringing in a framework, it puts a structure in place, it's applied across the board and that way that allows us to address the issues in a systematic way."



https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/oiprd-report-coroner-pathologist-1.4985926



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Death as Expected: Inside a child welfare system where 102 Indigenous kids died over 5 years. National News | September 25, 2019 by Kenneth Jackson



https://aptnnews.ca/2019/09/25/inside-a-child-welfare-system-where-102-indigenous-kids-died-over-5-years/



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Archive for the Accountability Category: Child Welfare Sector Response to Auditor General Report 2015 On December 2, 2015   /   Accountability, Children's Aid Societies, Featured, Government.

 

The Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies (OACAS) and its members welcome the 2015 report of the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario. The safety and protection of children is the first priority of Ontario Children’s Aid Societies (CASs). As noted by the Auditor General, child



Read more →



https://www.oacas.org/category/accountability/page/8/



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Former child advocate's investigation finds deplorable conditions at now-closed Thunder Bay foster homes



https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/irwin-elman-report-thunder-bay-1.5118129



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'No standard of care,' former Ontario child advocate says of foster care system in call for overhaul



https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/irwin-elman-thunder-bay-report-1.5118815



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Shocking conditions at now shuttered Thunder Bay foster homes detailed in child advocate’s final report



https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2019/04/30/shocking-conditions-at-now-shuttered-thunder-bay-foster-homes-detailed-in-child-advocates-final-report.html



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Province shuts down three Thunder Bay foster homes



https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/06/13/province-shuts-down-three-thunder-bay-foster-homes.html



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Ontario child advocate wonders whether Doug Ford just made your children 'invisible again'



https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/04/01/news/ontario-child-advocate-wonders-whether-doug-ford-just-made-your-children-invisible



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Something must be done about the Thunder Bay police



An unprecedented report says ‘systemic racism’ exists within the force, and that there was ‘neglect of duty’ among investigators. Is it beyond fixing?

by Kyle EdwardsDec 12, 2018



https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/something-must-be-done-about-the-thunder-bay-police/



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Thunder Bay police officer now ‘off duty’ as investigation into Saturday’s incident begins



https://aptnnews.ca/2018/12/04/thunder-bay-police-officer-now-off-duty-as-investigation-into-saturdays-incident-begins/



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Thunder Bay: Police in Thunder Bay, Ont., reopen investigations into deaths of 9 Indigenous people.



Cases will be reviewed by multi-disciplinary, multi-agency team.



(MULTI-DISCIPLINARY: THE WE KNOW ALL THE EXCUSES SQUAD)



https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/thunder-bay-investigations-reopened-1.5180092



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'Racism exists at all levels' of Thunder Bay, Ont., police service, review finds.



https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/racism-exists-at-all-levels-of-thunder-bay-ont-police-service-review-finds-1.4214534



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NO REASONABLES TO EVER DOUBT THE ACCURACY OR INTEGRITY OF THE PDRC REPORTS ON THE DEATHS OF CHILDREN IN CARE. NOPE NOTHIN' TO SEE HERE.. MOVE ALONG...



Report of the Paediatric Death Review Committee and Deaths Under Five Committee Office of the Chief Coroner Province of Ontario.June 2009.



The Inquiry into Pediatric Forensic Pathology in Ontario



On October 1, 2008, Commissioner Stephen T. Goudge released the Report of the Inquiry into Pediatric Forensic Pathology in Ontario.



Background



The Inquiry into Pediatric Forensic Pathology in Ontario was established under the Public Inquiries Act by an Order in Council signed by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario on April 25, 2007. The Honourable Stephen T. Goudge was appointed Commissioner with a mandate to conduct a systemic review and an assessment of the policies, procedures, practices, accountability and oversight mechanisms, quality control measures and institutional arrangements of pediatric forensic pathology in Ontario from 1981 to 2001 as they relate to its practice and use in investigations and criminal proceedings. The Commissioner was asked to make recommendations to address systemic failings and restore and enhance public confidence in pediatric forensic pathology in Ontario.



The inquiry was announced after Dr. Barry McLellan, then Chief Coroner of Ontario, released the results of a review of 45 criminally suspicious/homicide cases dating back to 1991 where Dr. Charles Smith had performed an autopsy or provided an opinion in consultation. This review was undertaken to determine

whether the conclusions reached by Dr. Smith in his autopsy or consultation reports, or provided during his testimony where applicable, could be supported by the information from materials available for independent review.



WHY WERE NONE OF DR. SMITH'S OTHER FINDINGS EVER REVIEWED?



https://www.ncfrp.org/wp-content/uploads/Publications/PDRC_Annual_Report_2009.pdf



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Workers found human tissue in disgraced pathologist's office, inquiry told

Tom Blackwell, CanWest News Service Published: Monday, December 17, 2007



TORONTO - A secretary who worked alongside Dr. Charles Smith for years says she found a bag of dried human tissue, a dish containing bones and a child's hospital bracelet during one of her frequent searches of the pathologist's ramshackle office.



Maxine Johnson, an administrative co-ordinator at Sick Children's Hospital, told a public inquiry on Monday she once had pictures taken of the chronically messy office to try to prod Smith to keep his quarters neater. It did not work, she said.



It was during a 2005 audit of tissue samples requested by the chief coroner's office that Johnson and a colleague made the unusual discoveries in the pathologist's room.



"We found some dried-out tissue in plastic bags ... skeletal bones in another little dish," she said.



As well, they discovered a bead bracelet of the kind given to young patients at hospital.



https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/porchlightcanada/dr-charles-smith-inquiry-t2479.html



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Ontario's Deaths Under Five Committee By Disgraced Pathologist Charles Randal Smith. (The webs they weave can be unraveled ...)



Introduction



The Deaths Under Five Committee (DU5C) of the Office of the Chief Coroner (OCC) meets at least five times per year for the purpose of comprehensively reviewing the deaths of children less than five years of age investigated by coroners in Ontario. 



It is a secret multi-disciplinary committee and members include forensic pathologists, coroners, police detectives, child maltreatment and child welfare experts, crown attorneys, a Health Canada product safety specialist and executive staff from the OCC and at one time the CEO of OACAS Mary Ballantyne. (I wonder how many experts are on this committee aren't fake)



Attendance for knowledge enhancement is common, including learners from different stages of medical education and detectives from police services that are not active committee members. The membership is balanced to reflect Ontario’s geography. It also includes members from several police agencies that provide diversity in terms of geographic area, size of police service and the skill set of the investigators.



Scope and Mandate



The DU5C reviews all cases investigated by a coroner involving the deaths of children under five years of age including neonatal cases where the death was potentially linked to parental behaviour (e.g. sleep circumstances/unsafe sleep environment, maternal substance use, neglect, domestic violence, etc.) and those in which a children’s aid society or Indigenous child wellbeing society (“Society”) was involved at time of the death. The committee does not review neonatal deaths that occur prior to discharge from hospital where no substantive issues have been identified. 



The mandate of the DU5C is to determine the cause and manner of death for all cases meeting the criteria for review. Case-specific recommendations for additional investigation, further laboratory/pathologic testing, evaluative testing of relatives or systemic improvements may arise during the review. 



DU5 Review Process



Cases are referred to the DU5C by the relevant Regional Supervising Coroner. Case reviews are not confined to deaths that occurred during the calendar years of this Annual Report. Given the complexities involved in paediatric death investigations, the investigations sometimes take a long time to complete, delaying the DU5C review.



The DU5C review is a two-tiered “triaging” process involving an Executive Team Review and/or Full Committee Review.



Executive Team



The Executive Team reviews cases of deaths under five that are:



Natural deaths with defined illnesses and no issues (i.e. the deaths are “all natural” and there are no police or child welfare concerns)



Accidental deaths that are well documented where no issues have been identified (e.g. motor vehicle collision, drowning)



Homicides or criminally suspicious deaths where the case is still under active police investigation or before the courts.



The cases are received, tracked and triaged by the Executive Team, whose membership includes the DU5C Chair, Executive Lead and other individuals as necessary.



Full Committee



The full DU5C includes the multiple disciplines noted above. The full committee reviews cases of deaths under five including:



All cases where the cause of death remains undetermined after a complete investigation



Deaths where the sleep circumstances\unsafe sleep environment may have been a potential contributor



Potential cases of  Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)



Natural deaths with complex medical presentations where potential investigative or pathologic issues that may affect the cause and/or manner of death have been identified



Accidental deaths involving unusual circumstances



Deaths resulting from head injuries that are not well documented accidental deaths (i.e. motor vehicle collision)



Homicides (when the investigation and court process has been completed)(Most homicides are reviewed by the Executive Team and presented to the committee prior to completion of the court process given the time period until resolution in the criminal justice system)



Cases referred to the DU5C undergo a comprehensive and detailed review of investigative materials including (but not limited to):



Post mortem examination, toxicology results and other investigative findings



Photographs (of the scene and post mortem examination)

Coroner’s Investigation Statement



Investigation Questionnaire for Sudden and Unexpected Deaths in Infants



Police and other investigative reports (e.g. Fire Marshal and children’s aid society/Indigenous child wellbeing society reports, etc.)



Chart 6 Illustrates that over the past seven years, the full DU5C reviewed between 55 and 108 cases. The manner of death for the majority of cases was “undetermined.”



Chart 6: DU5C - Full Committee Reviews Based on Manner of Death 2010-2017 Chart 6.



Year Natural Accident Homicide Undetermined Total



2010 17 14 4 73 108

2011 3 13 3 79 98

2012 6 2 9 75 92

2013 3 3 0 49 55

2014 7 4 0 53 64

2015 7 3 0 45 55

2016 2 1 0 58 61

2017 4 2  0 51 57



https://www.mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca/english/Deathinvestigations/OfficeChiefCoroner/Publicationsandreports/PDRCDU52017Report.html



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Dr. Charles Randal Smith was long regarded as one of Canada's best in forensic child pathology. A public inquiry was called after an Ontario coroner's inquiry questioned Smith's conclusions in 20 of 45 child autopsies.



Court of Appeal Justice Stephen Goudge is lead the inquiry into how the use of faulty forensic pathology evidence by Ontario prosecutors may have led to as many as 13 people being wrongfully convicted of killing children.



THIS ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW:



While Dr Smith was wrongfully accusing the innocent how often did he let the guilty go? Please watch this short video to get a clue.



https://youtu.be/C9AcaPxUj_k



RELATED ARTICLES: 2009: Why did 90 children die?



Ninety children known to Ontario's child welfare system died in 2007, according to the latest report from the chief coroner's office – a number the province's new child advocate says is shocking and should trouble us all.



Equally disturbing, says Irwin Elman in his first annual report to the Legislature today, is the government's refusal to share detailed information on these deaths with his office.



By Laurie Monsebraaten SOCIAL JUSTICE REPORTER



https://www.thestar.com/life/health_wellness/2009/02/23/why_did_90_children_die.html



SEE ALSO: A PLAUSIBLE SOUNDING COVER STORY BY OACAS.



Paediatric Death Review Committee 2008 Annual Report (according to OACAS).



Coroner recommends public education on safe sleeping for infants and children. By Marie-Lauren Gregoire, OACAS Communications Coordinator.



Click here to download this report.Dr. Bert Lauwers and Karen Bridgman-Acker presented the report of the Paediatric Death Review Committee (PDRC) to child welfare professionals on the last day of the conference.



http://www.oacas.org/pubs/external/prdcannualreport08.pdf



The Associate Deputy Coroner indicated the most common causes of child deaths are natural, however, other causes include accident, homicide and undetermined.



One of the main causes of child deaths is unsafe sleeping environments. Unsafe sleeping practices include:



Adult beds used at home or for napping when visiting relatives or friends



Bed sharing or co-sleeping - room sharing is encouraged

Couches and sofas should not be used as sleep surfaces for babies



Crowded cribs are dangerous – keep cribs clear of toys, pillows, blankets, stuffed animals, and bumper pads



The safest sleeping environment for an infant is on its back in an empty crib with a firm mattress



The PDRC, a multidisciplinary committee of the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario, reviews all child deaths in Ontario including those child deaths where a child welfare agency has had some involvement with the child and/or family within the previous year. In 2007, the Paediatric Death Review Committee examined the circumstances surrounding the deaths of 91 children between the ages of 0 and 18 years. The Deaths Under Five Committee reviewed 117 deaths. The presentation focused on the issues and themes raised in 35 cases reviewed by the PDRC in 2007 where a Children’s Aid Society (CAS) was involved with the family during the preceding 12 months.



The purpose of review is to analyze the circumstances of the death, the services provided to the family, and to make recommendations for possible prevention of future deaths under similar circumstances. The recommendations are focused on promoting best practices within the child welfare and medical systems and educating the public on child safety measures. The Annual Report produced by the PDRC summarizes the findings, statistics, recommendations, trends and themes identified in these reviews.



The main recommendation of this report is increased public education about safe sleeping practices. CASs educate parents about safe sleeping practices and ensure child protection workers complete safety assessments of the child’s home, especially the sleeping areas for infants. Ontario’s CASs need the support of community partners and professionals to educate parents about safe sleeping practices, positive parenting and the duty to report.



Previous article: An Evening to Remember



Next article: Youth report on improving the well-being of youth in care



http://www.oacas.org/pubs/oacas/journal/2008June/paediatric.html



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2001: DEAD WRONG.



How the faulty findings of an eminent pathologist led to erroneous murder charges and ruined lives. JANE O’HARA. macleans.ca



When Dr. Charles Randal Smith settled into the witness box of the Kingston, Ont., courtroom, he looked perfectly at home. He'd brought along his teenage daughter to watch him testify at this preliminary hearing, even though it was not exactly family fare. The tall, grey-haired pathologist, who since 1992 has run the Ontario pediatric forensic pathology unit at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children.



Crown prosecutors viewed the case as one of the most sensational child murders ever in Canada. Their theory was straightforward: on June 12, 1997, Louise Reynolds, a 28-year-old single mother from Kingston, had killed her seven-year-old daughter, Sharon, by stabbing her more than 80 times with a pair of scissors. Reynolds’s motive? Prosecutors argued she was angry at the child for having head lice.



For Kingston police and Crown prosecutors, Smith’s opinion was crucial.



His 10-page report on the autopsy he performed on Sharon’s perforated body was the linchpin of the second-degree murder case. But it didn’t hold. Just over three months ago, in late January, Smith’s theory was totally discredited when the Crown abruptly dropped the murder charges against Reynolds. This, after numerous experts—some hired by the Crown—disagreed with Smith and concluded instead that a powerful dog had mauled the girl.



By then Reynolds had spent 3'/2 years in custody because of the outlandish charge. Now she is suing the 51-year-old Smith, Toronto dental oncologist Robert Wood (who advised the prosecution that the marks did not look like dog bites) and the Kingston police force for $7 million. But as damning as that case sounds, it is just one ofat least six to cast doubt on Smiths expertise.



Now, the alarm bells are going off. Smith himself has voluntarily stopped doing autopsies for the coroners office - and asked for a review of his work in the Reynolds case and in another Toronto child death case that depended on his testimony.



And the provincial coroner’s office has taken possibly unprecedented steps to restore faith in the system. Ontario’s deputy chief coroner, Dr. James Cairns, has had Crown prosecutors and defence lawyers informed that his office is “more than



willing” to have independent experts examine Smiths findings. The reviews Smith requested, he added, would have happened in any case. “It has to be done,” said Cairns, “but it’s obviously not something one does jumping up and down for joy.”



READ LOTS MORE HERE:



http://archive.macleans.ca/article/2001/5/14/dead-wrong



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Dr. Charles Smith: 5 examples of the wrongfully accused.



https://globalnews.ca/news/2548081/dr-charles-smith-5-cases-of-the-wrongfully-accused/



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Doctors who supervised disgraced pathologist Charles Smith never faced disciplinary hearing.



https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/02/28/doctors-who-supervised-disgraced-pathologist-never-faced-disciplinary-hearing.html



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Death in the family: The story of disgraced doctor Charles Smith and the families he destroyed.



Author John Chipman on the tragic miscarriage of justice that impelled him to investigate Ontario's most notorious pediatric pathologist. By TVO Current Affairs - Published on February 9, 2017.



https://www.tvo.org/article/death-in-the-family-the-story-of-disgraced-doctor-charles-smith-and-the-families-he-destroyed



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Dr. Charles Smith: The man behind the public inquiry.



Charles Randal Smith is a disgraced former Canadian pathologist who was the head pediatric forensic pathologist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, from 1982 to 2003. The quality of his autopsies, and the resulting criminal charges and convictions of thirteen people, have been called into question and a full public inquiry was ordered. The inquiry found there to be fundamental errors made on the part of Smith and many of the cases in which he had testified are now being re-examined and appealed.[1] [2]



In 2008, the chief forensic pathologist for Ontario began a public inquiry into 220 cases of shaken baby syndrome to determine if anyone was wrongfully convicted in the babies' deaths.[3] Smith proclaimed that he had "a thing against people who hurt children", while critics said that "he was on a crusade and acted more like a prosecutor" than a pathologist.[4]



(Did Dr. Charles Randal Smith ever hold a seat on the Ontario PDRC and/or did the PDRC ever access his expertise? See more below.)



https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/dr-charles-smith-the-man-behind-the-public-inquiry-1.864004



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Goudge Inquiry: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



The Inquiry into Pediatric Forensic Pathology in Ontario, commonly known as the Goudge Inquiry, was created to address serious concerns over the way criminally suspicious deaths involving children are handled by the Province of Ontario in Canada. The inquiry was primarily the result of evidence that arose in regards to discredited pathologist Charles Smith.[1]



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goudge_Inquiry



https://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/inquiries/goudge/policy_research/pdf/Sossin_Accountability-and-Oversight.pdf



https://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/inquiries/goudge/schedule/witnesses.html



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Dr. Charles Smith, a pediatric forensic pathologist whose work is being reviewed by the coroner's office, has resigned from his post at the Hospital for Sick Children.



-

Did Dr. Charles Randal Smith ever hold a seat on the Ontario PDRC and/or did the PDRC ever access his expertise - or was he the head of the PDRC?

-



Once considered Ontario's leading expert on pediatric forensics, Dr. Smith has been surrounded by controversy in recent years.



In 1992, the Ontario Coroner's Office created a pediatric forensic pathology unit at Hospital for Sick Children and Smith was appointed director. He had become almost solely responsible for investigating suspicious child deaths in Ontario.



In this period he conducted hundreds of autopsies and testified in court multiple times. He conducted training sessions for lawyers on how to examine and cross-examine expert witnesses, and training for law-enforcement and medical staff on detecting child abuse.[5]



In 2003, he was removed from the five-person team that conducts autopsies for the coroner's office after judges and medical authorities criticized his methods and conclusions. He continued to work as a pathologist at the hospital, earning a salary of $290,000 last year. But earlier this year officials discovered that evidence crucial to criminal cases had gone missing in his office.



A hospital spokeswoman gave no reason for his departure, but said he resigned in July. No announcement was made.



In June, Chief Coroner Barry McLellan launched a review into 40 homicide and suspicious-death cases handled by Dr. Smith since 1991. (PDRC?) It was to be conducted by a panel of independent experts and was expected to examine whether Dr. Smith's autopsies and consultation reports in a number of sensitive cases were reliable. At the time, Dr. McLellan said the review was necessary to maintain public confidence in the coroner's office.



https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/embattled-pathologist-no-longer-at-sick-kids/article18247696/



While at Sick Children's Hospital, Smith lived on a farm in Newmarket. His marriage collapsed around the time that his pathology work at Sick Children's received heavy scrutiny.[4] Smith was briefly relocated to Saskatoon and since 2007, he has lived in Victoria, British Columbia, with partner Dr. Bonnie Leadbeater, director of the Centre for Youth and Society at the University of Victoria.



In 1999, a Fifth Estate documentary singled him out as one of four Canadians with this rare expertise.



For more than a decade, Mr. Smith enjoyed a stellar reputation as the country's leading pathologist when it came to infant deaths giving lectures to law enforcement, medical students and other coroners. Several complaints about his work had little effect.



A 2008 inquiry on Smith’s work condemned his “flawed approach” and noted the he “lacked the requisite training and qualifications” to work as pediatric forensic pathologist.



Smith’s findings had helped convict more than a dozen people, some of whom spent years in prison and lost access to their children.



For 24 years, Smith worked at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children. In the hospital's pediatric forensic pathology unit, he conducted more than 1,000 child autopsies.



But Smith no longer practices pathology. An Ontario coroner's inquiry reviewed 45 child autopsies in which Smith had concluded the cause of death was either homicide or criminally suspicious.



The coroner's review found that Smith made questionable conclusions of foul play in 20 of the cases — 13 of which had resulted in criminal convictions. After the review's findings were made public in April 2007, Ontario's government ordered a public inquiry into the doctor's practices.



That inquiry, led by Justice Stephen Goudge and concluding in October 2008, found that Smith "actively misled" his superiors, "made false and misleading statements" in court and exaggerated his expertise in trials.



Far from an expert in forensic child pathology, "Smith lacked basic knowledge about forensic pathology," wrote Goudge in the inquiry report.



"Smith was adamant that his failings were never intentional," Goudge wrote. "I simply cannot accept such a sweeping attempt to escape moral responsibility."



"Dr. Smith expressed opinions ... that were either contrary to, or not supported by, the evidence," Ms. Silver told the hearing Tuesday, reading from an agreed statement of facts.



Smith had been in search of his own personal truths. He was born in a Toronto Salvation Army hospital where he was put up for adoption three months later. After years of looking for his biological mother, he called her on her 65th birthday. But she refused to take his call.



Smith's adoptive family moved often. His father's job in the Canadian Forces took them throughout Canada and to Germany. He attended high school in Ottawa, and graduated from medical school at the University of Saskatchewan in 1975.



https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/disgraced-pathologist-charles-smith-stripped-of-medical-licence/article578634/



https://www.tvo.org/article/death-in-the-family-the-story-of-disgraced-doctor-charles-smith-and-the-families-he-destroyed



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An overview of Jenna's case prepared by Goudge Inquiry staff tells us that:



Jenna was born in Peterborough, Ontario on April 21, 1995 to Randy and Brenda Waudby. Jenna died on January 22, 1997, at the age of 21-months in Peterborough; Mrs. Waudby was charged with second-degree murder on Sept. 18 1997. The criminal proceeding concluded on June 15, 1999, when the charge was withdrawn.



The local Children's Aid Society apprehended Ms. Waudby's older child, Justine, on the day of Jenna's death and placed her in temporary foster care. She remained in foster care until January 27, 1997, when she moved in with Tom and Kim Waudby, her maternal aunt and uncle. She remained there until March 27, 1997, at which time she was again placed in foster care. She was ordered returned to Ms. Waudby's care on May 2, 1997, pursuant to an Order of Justice A.P.Ingram and remained in her care until Sept. 18, 1997, the day of Ms. Waudby's arrest. She was later re-apprehended on the date of Ms. Waudby's arrest.



The Children's Aid Society also apprehended a second child, M.W. born after Jenna's death, and placed him with his father. On July 23, 1999, subsequent to the withdrawal of Ms. Waudby's murder charge, Justine was ordered returned to her mother's care. That same day, access was also granted to M.W. who would continue to reside with his father. The Children's Aid Society appealed the decision. On August 13, 1999, the appeal was dismissed. On Dec. 28, 2006, the youth who was babysitting Jenna the night she died was charged with second-degree murder. On December 14, 2006, J.D. pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The criminal proceeding concluded on March 1, 2007, when he was sentenced as a youth to 22 months incarceration followed by 11 months of community supervision;



READ MORE HERE:



https://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2008/10/justice-goudges-findings-part-three.html



Charles Smith; Ontario; 'What kind of man' series: Part Five of ten: What kind of man would attempt to poison the reputation of a mother with the Children's Aid Society and attempt to influence the seizure of her newly born child - while hiding in his personal possession evidence from the autopsy which pointed directly to someone else's guilt?



READ MORE HERE:



https://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2016/07/charles-smith-ontario-what-kind-of-man_21.html



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https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/disgraced-pathologist-charles-smith-stripped-of-medical-licence/article578634/



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Smith_(pathologist)



https://toronto.citynews.ca/2016/02/29/like-a-god-dr-charles-smith-left-poisoned-trail-behind-him/



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The Inquiry into Pediatric Forensic Pathology in Ontario



The Inquiry into Pediatric Forensic Pathology in Ontario was established by the Government of Ontario under the Public Inquiries Act on April 25, 2007. The Honourable Stephen T. Goudge was appointed Commissioner.



The Inquiry's mandate was to conduct a systemic review and an assessment of the policies, procedures, practices, accountability and oversight mechanisms, quality control measures and institutional arrangements of pediatric forensic pathology in Ontario from 1981 to 2001 as they relate to its practice and use in investigations and criminal proceedings. The Commissioner was asked to make recommendations to address systemic failings and restore and enhance public confidence in pediatric forensic pathology in Ontario.



The Commission's mandate did not include reporting on any individual cases that have been or may be subject to a criminal investigation or proceeding. However, members of the Commission met privately with individuals or families affected by practices in Ontario's pediatric forensic pathology system between 1981 and 2001. These meetings were not part of the formal hearing process. There are no transcripts of the meetings.



https://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/inquiries/goudge/report/v2_en_pdf/Vol_2_Eng.pdf



:::



A CHILD IN CARE IS A CHILD AT RISK.



Between 2008/2012 natural causes was listed as the least likely way for a child in Ontario's care to die at 7% (only 15) out of the total deaths reviewed while "undetermined cause" was listed as the leading cause of death of children in Ontario's child protection system at 43% of the total deaths reviewed. The rest of the deaths were categorized as homicide, suicide and accidental.



43% equals 92 children out of just the deaths reviewed by the PDRC in 4 years. 92 mystery deaths and like every other year no further action was taken to determine the cause...



Undetermined means those 92 had no pre-existing medical conditions and there was no reason for them to have died.



http://www.mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca/english/DeathInvestigations/office_coroner/PublicationsandReports/PDRC/2013Report/PDRC_2013.html



http://www.mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca/sites/default/files/content/mcscs/images/195633-19.jpg



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CAS can’t protect all children; but YOU can.



BY GUEST COLUMNIST PATRICK LAKE.



The 90 child deaths to which the advocate – Irwin Elman – refers were based on the 2008 Report of the Pediatric Death Review Committee (PDRC) of the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario. That same report says “involvement of CAS is

not a factor in the vast majority of child deaths in Ontario; for those children who died while receiving CAS services, most deaths could not have been foreseen or prevented by a CAS”



http://www.yorkcas.org/Articles/patlakemarch122009.pdf



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:::



Canada in Afghanistan - Fallen Canadian Armed Forces Members.



One hundred and fifty-eight (158) Canadian Armed Forces members lost their lives in service while participating in our country’s military efforts in Afghanistan between 2002 and 2011.



You can click on the names to explore their entries in the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.



https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/canadian-armed-forces/afghanistan-remembered/fallen?filterYr=2009



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THERE'S NOTHING TO SEE HERE: MOVE ALONG...



The now defunct child advocate's office had called for an inquest into the deaths of every child in care.



https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2018/11/19/eliminating-the-ontario-child-advocates-office-a-mistake.html



“It is stunning to me how these children... are rendered invisible while they are alive and invisible in their death,” said Irwin Elman, Ontario’s advocate for children and youth. Between 90 and 120 children and youth connected to children’s aid die every year.



Teen’s death raises questions about secrecy surrounding kids in care.



https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/12/10/teens-death-raises-questions-about-secrecy-surrounding-kids-in-care.html



:::



Nearly half of children in Crown care are medicated.



Psychotropic drugs are being prescribed to nearly half the Crown wards in a sample of Ontario children's aid societies, kindling fears that the agencies are overusing medication with the province's most vulnerable children.



Ontario researchers have found that not only were psychotropic drugs prescribed to a clear majority of the current and former wards interviewed, but most were diagnosed with mental-health disorders by a family doctor, never visited a child psychiatrist or another doctor for a second opinion, and doubted the accuracy of their diagnosis.



A Toronto Star investigation has found Ontario’s most vulnerable children in the care of an unaccountable and non-transparent protection system. It keeps them in the shadows, far beyond what is needed to protect their identities.



“When people are invisible, bad things happen,” says Irwin Elman, Ontario’s now former and last advocate for children and youth with the closure of the Office.



A disturbing number, the network's research director, Yolanda Lambe, added, have traded the child-welfare system for a life on the street.



"A lot of people are using drugs now," she said. "There's a lot of homeless young people who have been medicated quite heavily."



In Ontario the CAS has turned themselves into a multi-billion dollar private corporation using any excuse to compel parents into submitting to fake drug testing to justify removing children or keeping files open keeping that government funding flowing.



All the while they've taking the thousands of children to specific CAS approved doctors who are all to happy to prescribe medication based on the workers assessments of the child's condition.. That's why there are no follow ups with qualified medical and psychiatric doctors and not because the CAS lack the funding, staff or attention span to care properly for the children.



Marti McKay is a Toronto child psychologist was hired by a CAS to assess the grandparents' capacity as guardians only to discover a child so chemically altered that his real character was clouded by the side effects of adult doses of drugs.



"There are lots of other kids like that," said Dr. McKay, one of the experts on the government panel. "If you look at the group homes, it's close to 100 per cent of the kids who are on not just one drug, but on drug cocktails with multiple diagnoses.



"There are too many kids being diagnosed with ... a whole range of disorders that are way out of proportion to the normal population. ... It's just not reasonable to think the children in care would have such overrepresentation in these rather obscure disorders."



According to documents obtained by The Globe and Mail under Ontario's Freedom of Information Act, 47 per cent of the Crown wards - children in permanent CAS care - at five randomly picked agencies were prescribed psychotropics last year to treat depression, attention deficit disorder, anxiety and other mental-health problems. And, the wards are diagnosed and medicated far more often than are children in the general population.



https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/nearly-half-of-children-in-crown-care-are-medicated/article687480/



"Use of 'behaviour-altering' drugs widespread in foster, group homes."



Almost half of children and youth in foster and group home care aged 5 to 17 — 48.6 per cent — are on drugs, such as Ritalin, tranquilizers and anticonvulsants, according to a yearly survey conducted for the provincial government and the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies (OACAS). At ages 16 and 17, fully 57 per cent are on these medications.



In group homes, the figure is even higher — an average of 64 per cent of children and youth are taking behaviour-altering drugs. For 10- to 15-year-olds, the number is a staggering 74 per cent.



https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/12/12/use_of_behaviouraltering_drugs_widespread_in_foster_group_homes.html



:::



FAKE EXPERTS IN KEY LOCATIONS: FAKE EXPERTS AT THE FRONTEND OF THE SYSTEM SNATCHING CHILDREN, FAKE EXPERTS IN THE MIDDLE DRUGGING CHILDREN OUT OF THEIR MINDS AND MORE FAKE EXPERTS TO EXPLAIN AWAY WHY SO MANY CHILDREN DON'T SURVIVE ONTARIO'S CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM ALIVE AND UNHARMED.



2019: Former head of Sick Kids’ Motherisk lab gives up medical licence amid investigation By Jacques Gallant Legal Affairs Reporter.



https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/02/22/former-head-of-sick-kids-motherisk-lab-gives-up-medical-licence-amid-investigation.html



https://www.cbc.ca/fifth/m_blog/motherisk-hair-testing-scandal-timeline



https://blog.cansfordlabs.co.uk/5-reasons-why-the-motherisk-scandal-shouldnt-happen-again



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What’s worse is that the number of children prescribed dangerous drugs is on the rise. Doctors seem to prescribe medication without being concerned with the side-effects.



Worldwide, 17 million children, some as young as five years old, are given a variety of different prescription drugs, including psychiatric drugs that are dangerous enough that regulatory agencies in Europe, Australia, and the US have issued warnings on the side effects that include suicidal thoughts and aggressive behavior.



According to Fight For Kids, an organization that “educates parents worldwide on the facts about today’s widespread practice of labeling children mentally ill and drugging them with heavy, mind-altering, psychiatric drugs,” says over 10 million children in the US are prescribed addictive stimulants, antidepressants and other psychotropic (mind-altering) drugs for alleged educational and behavioral problems.



In fact, according to Foundation for a Drug-Free World, every day, 2,500 youth (12 to 17) will abuse a prescription pain reliever for the first time (4). Even more frightening, prescription medications like depressants, opioids and antidepressants cause more overdose deaths (45 percent) than illicit drugs like cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines and amphetamines (39 percent) combined. Worldwide, prescription drugs are the 4th leading cause of death.



https://dailyhealthpost.com/common-prescription-drugs/



:::



Standards of Care for the Administration of Psychotropic Medications to Children and Youth Living in Licensed Residential Settings.



Summary of Recommendations of the Ontario Expert Panel February 2009.



http://www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/documents/specialneeds/residential/summary_report.pdf



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Separating kids from parents a 'textbook strategy' of domestic abuse, experts say — and causes irreversible, lifelong damage even when there is no other choice.



“Being separated from parents or having inconsistent living conditions for long periods of time can create changes in thoughts and behavior patterns, and an increase in challenging behavior and stress-related physical symptoms,” such as sleep difficulty, nightmares, flashbacks, crying, and yelling says Amy van Schagen - California State University.



The Science Is Unequivocal: Separating Families Is Harmful to Children Even When There Is No Other Choice.



In news stories and opinion pieces, psychological scientists are sharing evidence-based insight from decades of research demonstrating the harmful effects of separating parents and children.



In an op-ed in USA Today, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff (University of Delaware), Mary Dozier (University of Delaware), and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek (Temple University) write:



“Years of research are clear: Children need their parents to feel secure in the world, to explore and learn, and to grow strong emotionally.”



In a Washington Post op-ed, James Coan (University of Virginia) says:



“As a clinical psychologist and neuroscientist at the University of Virginia, I study how the brain transforms social connection into better mental and physical health. My research suggests that maintaining close ties to trusted loved ones is a vital buffer against the external stressors we all face. But not being an expert on how this affects children, I recently invited five internationally recognized developmental scientists to chat with me about the matter on a science podcast I host. As we discussed the border policy’s effect on the children ensnared by it, even I was surprised to learn just how damaging it is likely to be.”



Mia Smith-Bynum (University of Maryland) is quoted in The Cut:



“The science leads to the conclusion that the deprivation of caregiving produces a form of extreme suffering in children. Being separated from a parent isn’t just a trauma — it breaks the relationship that helps children cope with other traumas.



Forceful separation is particularly damaging, explains clinical psychologist Mia Smith-Bynum, a professor of family science at the University of Maryland, when parents feel there’s nothing in their power that can be done to get their child back.



For all the dislocation, strangeness and pain of being separated forcibly from parents, many children can and do recover, said Mary Dozier, a professor of child development at the University of Delaware. “Not all of them — some kids never recover,” Dr. Dozier said. “But I’ve been amazed at how well kids can do after institutionalization if they’re able to have responsive and nurturing care afterward.”



The effects of that harm may evolve over time, says Antonio Puente, a professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington who specializes in cultural neuropsychology. What may begin as acute emotional distress could reemerge later in life as PTSD, behavioral issues and other signs of lasting neuropsychological damage, he says.



“A parent is really in many ways an extension of the child’s biology as that child is developing,” Tottenham said. “That adult who’s routinely been there provides this enormous stress-buffering effect on a child’s brain at a time when we haven’t yet developed that for ourselves. They’re really one organism, in a way.” When the reliable buffering and guidance of a parent is suddenly withdrawn, the riot of learning that molds and shapes the brain can be short-circuited, she said.



In a story from the BBC, Jack Shonkoff (Harvard University) discusses evidence related to long-term impacts:



Jack P Shonkoff, director of the Harvard University Center on the Developing Child, says it is incorrect to assume that some of the youngest children removed from their parents’ care will be too young to remember and therefore relatively unharmed. “When that stress system stays activated for a significant period of time, it can have a wear and tear effect biologically.



:::



“It is stunning to me how these children... are rendered invisible while they are alive and invisible in their death,” said Irwin Elman, Ontario’s former and last advocate for children and youth. Between 90 and 120 children and youth connected to children’s aid die every year.



:::



MAYBE IT'S TIME FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO ACCESS DIFFERENT EXPERTS IF THE GOVERNMENT HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE..



See: Robert D. Hare, C.M. (born 1934 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada) is a researcher in the field of criminal psychology. He developed the Hare Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-Revised), used to assess cases of psychopathy. Hare advises the FBI's Child Abduction and Serial Murder Investigative Resources Center (CASMIRC) and consults for various British and North American prison services.



Hare wrote a popular science bestseller published in 1993 entitled Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us (reissued 1999).



http://www.psychology-criminalbehavior-law.com/…/hare-psyc…/



He describes psychopaths as 'social predators', while pointing out that most don't commit murder. One philosophical review described it as having a high moral tone yet tending towards sensationalism and graphic anecdotes, and as providing a useful summary of the assessment of psychopathy but ultimately avoiding the difficult questions regarding internal contradictions in the concept or how it should be classified.



Hare received his Ph.D. in experimental psychology at University of Western Ontario (1963). He is professor emeritus of the University of British Columbia where his studies center on psychopathology and psychophysiology. He was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada on December 30, 2010.



Assessment tools



Frustrated by a lack of agreed definitions or rating systems of psychopathy, including at a ten-day international North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) conference in France in 1975, Hare began developing a Psychopathy Checklist. Produced for initial circulation in 1980, the same year that the DSM changed its diagnosis of sociopathic personality to Antisocial Personality Disorder, it was based largely on the list of traits advanced by Cleckley, with whom Hare corresponded over the years. Hare redrafted the checklist in 1985 following Cleckley's death in 1984, renaming it the Hare Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R). It was finalised as a first edition in 1991, when it was also made available to the criminal justice system, which Hare says he did despite concerns that it was not designed for use outside of controlled experimental research.[12] It was updated with extra data in a 2nd edition in 2003.



The PCL-R was reviewed in Buros Mental Measurements Yearbook (1995), as being the "state of the art" both clinically and in research use. In 2005, the Buros Mental Measurements Yearbook review listed the PCL-R as "a reliable and effective instrument for the measurement of psychopathy" and is considered the 'gold standard' for measurement of psychopathy. However, it is also criticised.[13]



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_D._Hare



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The Special Investigations Unit is the civilian oversight agency responsible for investigating circumstances involving police that have resulted in a death, serious injury, or allegations of sexual assault of a civilian in Ontario, Canada.



(unregistered child protection social workers seem like a good fit for this kind of oversight wouldn't you agree and there doesn't seem to be a single province in Canada where this kind of oversight is being provided)



WITH GREAT POWER COMES THE NEED FOR EVEN GREATER OVERSIGHT THAN THE COLLEGE OR THE OMBUDSMAN... TRUE OR FALSE?



https://www.siu.on.ca/en/index.php



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2015: The Boy Who Should Have Lived

By: Allya Davidson



Chazz Petrella had an idyllic childhood in Cobourg, Ontario - 4 older siblings, loving parents, a hobby farm. But that all changed when his rages became too much for his family to handle. He was diagnosed with mental illness at age ten and was eventually on the files of nine agencies and services - including residential placements. Despite all of this care, he committed suicide just after he turned 12. His parents are now calling for an inquest into his death. And they’re not alone.



Ontario’s Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth Irwin Elman  is pushing the provincial coroner to launch an inquest into Chazz’s death. “How does that 12-year-old boy end up hanging from a tree? I want to know” Elman tells the fifth estate as part of its investigation into Chazz’s death. “There’s a 12-year-old boy who has by all accounts some real strengths, [is] really engaging and for a number of years has had services in his life, people in his life.



https://www.cbc.ca/fifth/m_episodes/2014-2015/the-boy-who-should-have-lived

INTERVIEW with Director of Service for Family and Children's Services of...

SELF REGULATION AND THE ONTARIO CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY.

Industry self-regulation is the process whereby members of an industry, trade or sector of the economy monitor their own adherence to legal, ethical, or safety standards, rather than have an outside, independent agency such as a third party entity or in cases where the government doesn't provide the sole funding for the agency in question - a governmental regulator to monitor and enforce those standards.[1] Self-regulation may ease compliance and ownership of standards, but it can also give rise to conflicts of interest.

More CAS videos here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjZ_knKT_FWLiUecMh3FFbw

If any organization, such as a corporation or government bureaucracy, is asked to eliminate unethical behavior within their own group, it may be in their interest in the short run to eliminate the appearance of unethical behavior, rather than the behavior itself, by keeping any ethical breaches hidden, instead of exposing and correcting them.

An exception occurs when the ethical breach is already known by the public. In that case, it could be in the group's interest to end the ethical problem to which the public has knowledge, but keep remaining breaches hidden.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/03/15/province_in_talks_with_peel_childrens_aid_society_over_strategies_in_leaked_memo.html

Another exception would occur in industry sectors with varied membership, such as international brands together with small and medium size companies where the brand owners would have an interest to protect the joint sector reputation by issuing together self-regulation so as to avoid smaller companies with less resources causing damage out of ignorance. Similarly, the reliability of a professional group such as lawyers and journalists could make ethical rules work satisfactorily as a self-regulation if they were a pre-condition for adherence of new members.

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2016/08/15/childrens-aid-societies-should-not-discriminate-against-poor-children-editorial.html

An organization can maintain control over the standards to which they are held by successfully self-regulating. If they can keep the public from becoming aware of their internal problems, this also serves in place of a public relations campaign to repair such damage. The cost of setting up an external enforcement mechanism is avoided. If the self-regulation can avoid reputational damage and related risks to all actors in the industry, this would be a powerful incentive for a pro-active self-regulation [without the necessity to assume it is to hide something].

I AM YOUR CHILDREN'S AD CAMPAIGN

http://www.oacas.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/1011annualreport.pdf

Self-regulating attempts may well fail, due to the inherent conflict of interest in asking any organization to police itself. If the public becomes aware of this failure, an external, independent organization is often given the duty of policing them, sometimes with highly punitive measures taken against the organization. The results can be disastrous, such as a military with no external, independent oversight, which may commit human rights violations against the public. Not all businesses will voluntarily meet best practice standards, leaving some users exposed.

https://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/about/pubs/motherisk/

Governments may prefer to allow an industry to regulate itself but maintain a watching brief over the effectiveness of self-regulation and be willing to introduce external regulation if necessary. For example, in the UK, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee in 2015 investigated the role of large accountancy firms in relation to tax avoidance and argued that "Government needs to take a more active role in regulating the tax industry, as it evidently cannot be trusted to regulate itself".

If the public becomes aware of this failure, an external, independent organization is often given the duty of policing them, sometimes with highly punitive measures taken against the organization.

The results can be disastrous, such as a child welfare society with no external, independent oversight, which may commit human rights violations against the public. Not all government funded private businesses will voluntarily meet best practice standards, leaving some or most families exposed.

:::

Corporatism is a political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, scientific, or guild associations on the basis of their common interests.

:::

CONSIDERING HOW CLOSELY THE CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY WORKS WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT, THE GOVERNMENT AND THE COURTS - AND HOW OFTEN CHILD ARE HARMED OR WORSE IN ONTARIO'S CARE...

The Special Investigations Unit is the civilian oversight agency responsible for investigating circumstances involving law enforcement (and why not the super secretive powerful as god children's aid societies as well?) that have resulted in a death, serious injury, or allegations of sexual assault of a civilian in Ontario, Canada.

The mandate of the SIU is to maintain confidence in Ontario's services by assuring the public that official actions resulting in serious injury, death, or allegations of sexual assault are subjected to rigorous, independent investigations.Nov 1, 2019.

https://www.siu.on.ca/en/index.php

:::

Allan Hogan, the former executive director of Family and Children’s Services of Lanark, Leeds and Grenville, was asked later, during an interview at his Herriott Street office in Perth, on Monday, Sept. 21, if he was OK with his workers being filmed during interactions with families.

https://www.facebook.com/FamiliesUnitedOntario/videos/504782689731500/

“We…” he began saying, before pausing. “People do have the opportunity to record or videotape us.

For the rest of the story read the Smiths Falls Record News Obituary By Desmond Devoy.

https://www.insideottawavalley.com/news-story/5926359-cas-watchdog-opens-new-local-chapter/

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“Reasonable grounds” refers to the information that an average person, using normal and honest judgment, would need in order to decide to report. This standard has been recognized by courts in Ontario as establishing a lower threshold for reporting simple suspicion to open files to meet funding goals.

(Can there really be two standards for reasonable grounds and still be reasonable?)

http://www.oacas.org/childrens-aid-child-protection/duty-to-report/

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“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”

It’s a question of education to teach people to be on their guard against the sort of verbal booby traps into which they are always being led, to analyze the kind of things that are said to them. I think it’s terribly important to insist on individual values, that every human being is unique. And it is, of course, on this genetic basis that the whole idea of the value of freedom is based.

https://blankonblank.org/interviews/aldous-huxley-on-technodictators-booby-traps-technology-drugs-brave-new-world-soma-overpopulation-presidents/#read-more

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2019: There’s no rule on who can write assessments that ‘effectively decide’ if an Ontario parent loses their child. Experts say that must change

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/08/02/theres-no-rule-on-who-can-write-assessments-that-effectively-decide-if-an-ontario-parent-loses-their-child-experts-say-that-must-change.html

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2019: Province orders children’s aid societies to review credentials of experts used in child welfare cases

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/08/23/province-orders-childrens-aid-societies-to-review-credentials-of-experts-used-in-child-welfare-cases.html

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2019: Expert who gave more than 100 assessments in Ontario child protection cases lied about credentials for years, judge finds

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/07/31/expert-who-gave-more-than-100-assessments-in-ontario-child-protection-cases-lied-about-credentials-for-years-judge-finds.html

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2017: All of us can be harmed': Investigation reveals hundreds of Canadians have phoney degrees

A Marketplace investigation of the world's largest diploma mill has discovered many Canadians could be putting their health and well-being in the hands of nurses, engineers, counsellors and other professionals with phoney credentials.

Fake diplomas are a billion-dollar industry, according to experts, and Marketplace obtained business records of its biggest player, a Pakistan-based IT firm called Axact. The team spent months combing through thousands of degree transactions, cross referencing personal information with customers' social media profiles.

The investigation revealed more than 800 Canadians could have purchased a fake degree.

"Keep in mind this is just the one operation," said Allen Ezell, a former FBI agent who investigated diploma mills for decades. "This does not give you totality of how many are being sold throughout Canada by all schools that are operating."

Ezell, who co-wrote the book Degree Mills: The Billion-Dollar Industry That Has Sold Over a Million Fake Diplomas, estimates half of new PhDs issued every year in the U.S. are fake.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/diploma-mills-marketplace-fake-degrees-1.4279513

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2010: Psychologist got degree from U.S. 'diploma mill'

A psychologist with the Durham Children’s Aid Society has pleaded guilty to professional misconduct for misrepresenting himself and for making multiple unqualified diagnoses of mental illness.

Gregory Carter, 63, appeared before the College of Psychologists of Ontario’s disciplinary committee on Tuesday. He and the college agreed on the terms of the penalty, which includes a three-month suspension, a recorded reprimand and one year of supervised practice under an approved practitioner.

In his practice with the Children’s Aid Society, Mr. Carter’s expertise was used to determine child custody cases.

A Whitby man who lost his children, now aged 7 and 9, said Tuesday’s judgment is a good starting point.

“The problem I have is that it didn’t really do anything to fix the problems that he’s caused,” said Mr. S., whose full name cannot be revealed to protect his children’s identities. “It’s like a child who creates a mess: He created a mess, then just gets a time-out.”

Lawyer George Callahan said the criminal charges against Mr. Carter seem to be piling up and a civil suit with multiple complainants likely will proceed concurrently.

“A side issue to all of this is that the CAS took steps based upon Gregory Carter’s report,” he said.

Mr. Carter’s credentials with the college still remain in question. On its website Mr. Carter is listed as qualified to practise clinical psychology. However Mr. Carter is a psychological associate and not a clinical psychologist, since the province requires clinical psychologists to obtain a doctoral degree.

Mr. Carter completed his master’s degree at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in 1978 and got a PhD in 1991 from California’s Pacific Western University, which the U.S. government in 2004 accused of being a “diploma mill.”

An investigation into Mr. Carter started in November 2008, when a Durham man lost custody of his granddaughter, now 11.

https://nationalpost.com/posted-toronto/psychologist-got-degree-from-u-s-diploma-mill

:::

Here are some facts and figures I think point to significant problems for the child welfare sector and for CAS in particular when it comes to reviewing the credentials of their "hand picked" experts who provide the results they want when they want them:

• There are over 5,000 child protection workers in Ontario (5160)

• The College regulates about 17,000 social workers and social service workers

• In Ontario, only 7% of College-registered social workers are employed by a CAS

• Only 4% of members of the Ontario Association of Social Workers work for a CAS

• Between 30% and 50% of Ontario’s child welfare workers do NOT hold a BSW

• Only 63% of direct service staff in CASs have a BSW or MSW (in 2012, it was 57%)

• Only 78% of direct service supervisors have a BSW or MSW (in 2012, it was 75.5%)

• The 2013 OACAS Human Resources survey estimates that 70% of relevant CAS job classifications would qualify for registration with the College (so about 1500 CAS currently employed workers would be unable to register with the College)

• From 2002 to 2014, 41 child welfare employees who did not hold a BSW or MSW submitted equivalency applications to register as social workers; only 16 were successful and 25 were refused. (was the test to hard for them and cause for concern, are those 25 who couldn't pass the test still loose on the streets...?)

SEE: http://cupe2190.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/SSWCC_CAS-letters-re-college-regulation_Nov.-2016.pdf

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The Ontario government doesn't require CAS workers to obtain warrants to conduct searches of private homes and allows unqualified unregistered CAS workers to authorize the police to act without a warrant on their behalf.

Canadian Criminal (or alleged violations of government standards?) Procedure and Practice/Search and Seizure: Meaning of a "Search"

Any police officer's (child protection social worker?) conduct interfering with a reasonable expectation of privacy is a "search".[1]

Any "inspection is a search" where a "person has a reasonable privacy interest in the object or subject matter of the state action and the information to which it gives access".[2]

Knocking at the door for an investigative purpose is not a search.[3]

However, going onto private property and peering into windows while attempting to detect signs of child abuse or neglect can constitute a search.[4]

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Canadian_Criminal_Procedure_and_Practice/Search_and_Seizure/Print_version

:::

Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Purpose. Section 7 of the Charter requires that laws or state actions (or government funded multi-billion dollar private corporations?) that interfere with life, liberty and security of the person conform to the principles of fundamental justice — the basic principles that underlie our notions of justice and fair process (Charkaoui v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), [2007] 1 SCR 350 at paragraph 19).

The wording of section 7 says that it applies to "everyone". This includes all people within Canada, including non-citizens.[4] It does not, however, apply to corporations.[5]

#5 Right to silence. In R v Hebert the court held that the right to silence was a principle of fundamental justice. Statements of the accused may not be achieved through police (worker?) trickery and silence may not be used to make any inference of guilt.

WHY THE RIGHT TO SILENCE?

Loaded questions are similar to leading questions in that they subtly (or not so subtly) push the user toward a particular response. The defining feature of this question type is the assumption about the respondent that is included implicitly in the question. Loaded questions can seem pretty benign at a first glance.

A leading question is when the question suggests the desired answer. "Did he hit you with a shovel?"

A loaded question means any yes or no answer would incriminate the responder. "Have you stopped beating your wife?"

Section 7 rights can also be violated by the conduct of a party other than a Canadian government body. The government need only be a participant or complicit in the conduct threatening the right, where the violation must be a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the government actions.[6]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_7_of_the_Canadian_Charter_of_Rights_and_Freedoms

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The current hierarchical corporate structures that dominate our economies have been in place for over 200 years and were notably supported and defined by Max Weber during the 1800s. Even though Weber was considered a champion of bureaucracy, he understood and articulated the dangers of bureaucratic organisations as stifling, impersonal, formal, protectionist and a threat to individual freedom, equality and cultural vitality.

32 MOTHERISK COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS.

#4 Disclosure. The Family Rules Committee should amend the Family Law Rules to require children’s aid societies to provide automatic, ongoing, thorough and timely court disclosure to parents.

https://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/about/pubs/motherisk/

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CONSENT TO INTERCEPTION - CANADA.

Documenting the facts is not a crime...

Broadly speaking, Canadians can legally record their own conversations with other people, but not other peoples' conversations that they are not involved in.

183.1 Where a private communication is originated by more than one person or is intended by the originator thereof to be received by more than one person, a consent to the interception thereof by any one of those persons is sufficient consent for the purposes of any provision of this Part. [1993, c.40, s.2.]

The Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46 [Criminal Code] imposes a general prohibition on interception (recording) of private communications, but then provides an exception where one of the parties to the private communication consents to the interception of that communication. Thus, broadly speaking, Canadians can legally record their own conversations with other people, but not other people's conversations that they are not involved in.

Other legislation in Canada protects various privacy rights, but does not prevent Canadians from recording their own conversations with others.

http://www.legaltree.ca/node/908

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CAS calls Mom a hacker after she publicly speaks out, $75 million dollar lawsuit and charges pending TRIAL SUMMER 2019.

Kelley Denham, while doing research on FCSLLG's internal complaint process on the agency's privately operated public information website that also serves as an advertising platform for the agency, Kelley manually typed an address to information she was referencing in her complaint but left off the filename of the precise document she wanted, which took her to a directory on the site's uploads page where she stumbled across internal agency financial documents, minutes of meetings, client files and the personal information of a large number of people looking for a six figure salary.

According to Raymond Lemay the agency's website had multiple layers of security protecting it though he failed to mention that FCSLLG's website is hosted on a U.S. server in Michigan that coincidentally deletes all log files every 30 days and keeps no backups..

The agency has stated in the courts it doesn't matter if they wrongful accused Kelley of hacking them and there site wasn't protected by multiple layers of security or that the Supreme Court has ruled posting a link to something that was published by (FCSLLG) another isn't publishing because they FCSLLG says disgruntled Kelley Denham was just out to get them after she forced them to withdraw a request for a supervision order from court and then after FCSLLG referred our family to another agency - the judge awarded Kelley legals costs of $750 dollars after she forced Kingston's CAS lawyer to withdraw a motion and a request for a supervision order.. FCSLLG now denies Kingston's claim they were only acting as an agent for FCSLLG based on the information FCSLLG gave them.

The news report also fails to mention the outside internet expert they hired is project manager Margret Row's son in law who lives in her basement.. The "expert" was hired after Kelley copied the documents as evidence of what see'd seen and made a video featuring the agency's internal financial documents and ministry directives which she sent to the agency. He made recommendations not to improve the agency's security but instead to remove documents from the site to protect themselves (which they did) only from some reason the client files weren't removed.

In a state of desperation to have not just her own information removed but all the other families information removed as well she informed the pubic of the problem by posting a picture of a link to a document published (in secret) on FCSLLG's site.

FCSLLG has stated that there was nothing wrong with there website operations until Kelley ratted them out...

Kelley speaking to TV news reporter after FCSLLG alleged their privately operated public information website that also doubles as an advertising platform for their services..

https://youtu.be/kLOgGC8k-5o

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2019: Alleged Ontario CAS Hacker Trial Transcript available to download for free... A 70$ value no strings attached.. (also for absolutely no cost to you we'll include the final legal submissions and the verdict as soon as they become available ....)

Look for the transcript PDF here:

https://unpublishedottawa.com/letter/247562/alleged-ontario-cas-hacker-trial-update-190814

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This next 120 minute video is the beginning of Family and Children's Services of Lanark, Leeds and Grenville's internal complaint process.

Meet Kim Morrow, former unregistered director of service for Family and Children's services of Lanark, Leeds and Grenville. Kim Morrow had 30 plus years of experience. In this recording you can listen as Kim explains away FCSLLG's failure to investigate objectively, taking a biased position throughout, and failing to re-assess and adjust FCSLLG's position as FCSLLG had a statutory duty to do when faced with information that did not support FCSLLG's original position as just being bumps on the road.

Watch Kim Morrow act like she's never seen the documents we filed with the family court and listen to intake manager Erin Lee Marcotte's reaction to Kim as Kim claims to have been unaware of the documents.

Listen Kim explains she doesn't feel a sworn affidavit should be a verbatim accounting of facts but should embody the spirit and intent of what happened.

Listen also as Kim explains taking my family to court asking for a supervision order was just part of the society's investigative process.

It my belief Kim was aware of the documents but was unaware we had actually sworn the documents in, officially served them and officially filed them with the court and hadn't just walked up to their office and just handed our children's confidential information over to Family and Children's services of Lanark, Leeds and Grenville's legal department in person.

Unfortunately the complaint process came to abrupt and sudden end when we wouldn't agree to sign a legally binding document agreeing not to document (record) the complaint process for legal purposes.

It’s not about the standards, it’s about the ethics and application.

https://www.facebook.com/FamiliesUnitedOntario/videos/499149713628131/

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The Final Call - Denham vs. FCSLLG.

This is an audio of my wife's second and last conversation with the Director of Service for Family and Children’s Services of Lanark, Leeds and Grenville regarding the progress of our complaint through the legislated processes.

In this recording the complaint process comes to a sudden end as the complaint now includes Kim Morrow's statements from her first meeting with Kelley Denham and still remains in charge of the complaint process. No conflicts here..

You can hear Kim's desperation grow as she unsuccessfully attempts to manipulate my wife throughout this conversation:

https://youtu.be/HALda2OHg4s

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FCSLLG in "We are not social workers, we are child protection workers"

Meet Lisa Muir unregistered service manager for FCSLLG in this short recording.

https://youtu.be/YAU_PjjuBv4

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Is it illegal to record someone speaking directly to you either overtly or covertly because someone in a position authority is acting unethically or committing a criminal act?

Criminal Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46)

Act current to 2019-01-30 and last amended on 2018-12-18. Previous Versions

Consent to interception

183.1 Where a private communication is originated by more than one person or is intended by the originator thereof to be received by more than one person, a consent to the interception thereof by any one of those persons is sufficient consent for the purposes of any provision of this Part.

1993, c. 40, s. 2.

Date modified: 2019-02-14

https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/section-183.1.html

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ONE YEAR LATER KIM MORROW REFERS OUR FAMILY TO THE KINGSTON CAS - MEET SUN WAI, ANOTHER UNREGISTERED ONTARIO CHILD PROTECTION SOCIAL WORKER...

This isn't another video full of disgruntled parents, it's an educational video - we won..

Sun Wai, a University of Guelph graduate that has a BA in criminal justice and public policy who went on to become an another UNREGISTERED child protection social worker for Family and Children's Services of Frontenac, Lennox and Addington in Ontario. Sun Wai failed to investigate objectively, took a biased position throughout, and failed to reassess and adjust her position as she had a statutory duty to do when faced with information that did not support her original position or her sworn affidavit. Listen as Sun Wai explains the children's aid society's anti-oppressive policy.

Sun Wai in the video with the full support of her supervisor informs the mother she's not going to tell the mother what her concerns are and has made the decision to keep her "concerns" from the her because knowing what those concerns are would put too much pressure on the mother according to Sun Wai - just before telling the mother the society has filed for a supervision order of her children then refuses to serve the mother. How is that not putting intense pressure on the mother? It's abusive on so many levels.

After repeatedly promising to give, in writing, a list of concerns and the basis for them to the parents - this woman, close to 50 days later, claims that telling the parents her concerns about their children's safety might inadvertently harm their children - but if that's so, isn't preventing them from addressing her concerns (if valid) more likely to harm their children. Can Sun Wai's obvious malicious intentions be in the "best interest of the child."

So what happened? The society withdrew both the application for a supervision order and a motion before the court (what the motion was, we still don't know) and the judge ordered the society to pay the legal costs ($750.00) incurred by the family forth-with after reading a letter sent to the family the night before the first appearance and signed by Sun Wai, explaining the reasons for her failing to give a list of her concerns and the basis for them to the family and time to address those concerns as being a part of the Ontario children's aid society's anti-oppressive policy to avoid causing families the undue stress of knowing what they've been accused of doing wrong.

https://www.facebook.com/FamiliesUnitedOntario/videos/570836186459483/

Do you want to see the cheque?

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154251353557104&set=a.47917112103.62320.596627103&type=3

Ontario CAS Dirty Tricks:

There's a knock at the door, it's after dark Wednesday and we weren't expecting anyone. We're a bit worried it's the worker wanting to come in again. We go to the door, it's a same day courier and he wants us to sign. We've been served.

We have to respond to the worker's concerns, swear in the responding documents and serve them before the end of that coming Friday. Two days to do what lawyers take weeks to do. We have a little over a week till the first appearance....

READ THE FULL STORY HERE:

http://unpublishedottawa.com/letter/153438/ontario-cas-dirty-tricks

This is very much a first, as far as I can tell. “Mr. Rogers, it will be a short retainer”

CAS ordered to pay my legal costs after Judge rules they unnecessarily brought our family to court, at the cost of Ontario tax-payers. One month later, I have the cheque in hand. Visit kelleyandderek.com

http://unpublishedottawa.com/letter/116313/%E2%80%9Cmr-rogers-it-will-be-short-retainer%E2%80%9D

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"Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 proclaimed in force."

The new regulation was updated to only require Local Directors of Children’s Aid Societies to be registered with the College.

The majority of local directors, supervisors, child protection workers and adoption workers have social work or social service work education, yet fewer than 10% are registered with the OCSWSSW.

Unfortunately, many CASs have been circumventing professional regulation of their staff by requiring that staff have social work education yet discouraging those same staff from registering with the OCSWSSW.

Ontarians have a right to assume that, when they receive services that are provided by someone who is required to have a social work degree (or a social service work diploma) — whether those services are direct (such as those provided by a child protection worker or adoption worker) or indirect (such as those provided by a local director or supervisor) — that person is registered with, and accountable to, the OCSWSSW.

Submission-re-Proposed-Regulations-under-the-CYFSA-January-25-2018. OCSWSSW May 1, 2018

https://www.ocswssw.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/OCSWSSW-Submission-re-Proposed-Regulations-under-the-CYFSA-January-25-2018.pdf

http://www.ocswssw.org/resources/legislation-submissions/

If you have any practice questions or concerns related to the new CYFSA, please contact the Professional Practice Department at 416-972-9882 or 1-877-828-9380 or email practice@ocswssw.org.

Without the deterrents professional regulation provides what prevents child protection social workers from being or becoming a danger to children and their families?

The union representing child protection social workers is firmly opposed to oversight from a professional college and the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, which regulates and funds child protection, is so far staying out of it.

The report Towards Regulation notes that the “clearest path forward” would be for the provincial government to again legislate the necessity of professional regulation, which would be an appallingly heavy-handed move according to OACAS/Cupe.

http://joincupe2190.ca/files/2015/10/Professional-regulation-at-childrens-aid-societies.pdf

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FORMER ONTARIO MPP FRANK KLEES EXPLAINS "A DISTINCTION WITHOUT A DIFFERENCE.

You can hear former conservative MPP Frank Klees say in a video linked below the very reason the social worker act was introduced and became law in 1998 was to regulate the "children's aid societies."

I'M NOT A SOCIAL WORKER, I'M A CHILD PROTECTION WORKER!

https://youtu.be/SA1YyWO0RTQ?list=PLsYhw09i3If44rMBDuZQ0ztayzSQU35Fy

Powerful As God - The Children's Aid Societies of Ontario is a documentary that delves into society's most controversial and secretive topics.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2234353/

Social Work and Social Service Work Act, 1998, S.O. 1998, c. 31

https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/98s31

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Under suspicion: Concerns about child welfare.

In 2015, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) began a year-long consultation to learn more about the nature of profiling in Ontario. Our aim was to gather information to help us guide organizations, individuals and communities on how to identify, address and prevent profiling. We connected with people and organizations representing diverse perspectives. We conducted an online survey, analyzed cases (called applications) at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario that alleged profiling, held a policy dialogue consultation, and reviewed academic research. We conducted focus groups with Indigenous peoples and received written submissions. Overall, almost 1,650 individuals and organizations told us about their experiences or understanding of profiling in Ontario.

If you need legal help, contact the Human Rights Legal Support Centre at:

Toll Free: 1-866-625-5179

TTY Toll Free: 1-866-612-8627

Website: www.hrlsc.on.ca

http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/under-suspicion-concerns-about-child-welfare

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Considering how closely the societies work with law enforcement who does have the powers and the "particular set of skills" to investigate crimes against children in care? The SIU does..

The Special Investigations Unit is the civilian oversight agency responsible for investigating circumstances involving police (and child protection social workers, why not) that have resulted in a death, serious injury, or allegations of sexual assault of a civilian/child in Ontario, Canada.

https://www.siu.on.ca/en/index.php

AND MAYBE IT'S TIME FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO ACCESS A DIFFERENT KIND OF CHILD WELFARE EXPERT?

See: Robert D. Hare, C.M. (born 1934 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada) is a researcher in the field of criminal psychology. He developed the Hare Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-Revised), used to assess cases of psychopathy. Hare advises the FBI's Child Abduction and Serial Murder Investigative Resources Center (CASMIRC) and consults for various British and North American prison services.

He describes psychopaths as 'social predators', while pointing out that most don't commit murder. One philosophical review described it as having a high moral tone yet tending towards sensationalism and graphic anecdotes, and as providing a useful summary of the assessment of psychopathy but ultimately avoiding the difficult questions regarding internal contradictions in the concept or how it should be classified.

Hare received his Ph.D. in experimental psychology at University of Western Ontario (1963). He is professor emeritus of the University of British Columbia where his studies center on psychopathology and psychophysiology. He was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada on December 30, 2010.

Hare wrote a popular science bestseller published in 1993 entitled Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us (reissued 1999).

http://www.psychology-criminalbehavior-law.com/2015/01/hare-psychopath/

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Motherisk Is A Symptom Of A Larger Problem In Child Protection Work.

“The testing was imposed on people who were among the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society, with scant regard for due process of their rights to privacy and bodily integrity,” the report states.

Without checks, balance or judicial oversight all of the parents who were tested were powerless to resist because they weren't testing people with the resources their own lawyer or to get a second opinion. Poor disadvantaged parents told us that they submitted to the testing under duress, in fear of losing custody of or access to their children” only to lose access or custody anyway.

The ministry sidestepped a question emailed by the Toronto Star on whether it would impose the requirement to register their 5000 plus employees with the College of Social Work, stating instead that it is funding the authorization process and leaving the society to police themselves with secret internal processes.

Respecting Procedural Safeguards:

There is a major power imbalance between an impoverished parent (we know that families of low socio-economic status are hugely overrepresented in the child welfare system) and a state agency. To guard against such an imbalance, it is critical that our legal system respect the time-tested procedural safeguards developed to specifically ensure that the disadvantaged party is treated fairly.

Yet according to the Motherisk report, these safeguards were ignored. The report describes a litany of procedural injustices perpetrated on parents: parents were pressured to consent to testing; were not informed of their right to reject testing; they had adverse inferences drawn against them when they rejected testing; they were required to prove the unreliability of testing instead of the other way around; and they were refused the right to cross-examine Motherisk "experts" at summary judgment motions.

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees procedural fairness when the state interferes with fundamental personal rights, such as the right by parents to care for their children. Ironically enough, the issue of taking body samples (such as hair for testing) without proper consent for the purpose of criminal investigations was found to be an infringement of the Charter 20 years ago by the Supreme Court.

It is unconscionable that these protections are available to accused persons, but were never considered applicable to parents at the mercy of child protection services.

There is nothing new about the commission's finding that many parents were explicitly or implicitly told that there would be negative consequences if they did not undergo hair testing. In fact, this type of coercive action continues to happen: parents are often given messages that if they do not consent, for example, to a finding that the child is in need of protection, that there will be negative consequences. For example, they may be prevented from bringing further motions, or — more damning in CAS work — labelled as being "uncooperative."

One would have thought that post-Motherisk, we would want parents and children to have more procedural protections and safeguards, and yet, it looks like the opposite is happening again.

In the wake of Motherisk, children's aid societies have continued to emphasize working with parents outside of court on a "voluntary" basis, which might include parents giving up their children to the agency under a temporary care agreement. These agreements are usually signed without lawyers and circumvent the court, which is the only place the powers of the CAS can be kept in check.

To me, Motherisk is a symptom of a larger problem in child protection work. The Motherisk scandal came about because of the failure of the legal system to protect parents and families. Somehow, we have forgotten that the desire to do good cannot be done at the expense of rights violations.

The balance between protecting children from the risk of harm and protecting parents' and children's basic rights to fairness is a challenging one. It is easy to fall too heavily on the side of overriding a parent's rights in favour of efficiency and expediency. But to ensure that something like Motherisk never happens again, it is something to which everyone involved in child welfare — lawyers, judges and caseworkers — must strive.

Tammy Law is a lawyer practicing in child protection, family and criminal law in Toronto. This column is part of CBC's Opinion section. For more information about this section, please read this editor's blog and our FAQ.

http://www.canada24news.com/opinion/the-motherisk-saga-is-a-symptom-of-a-larger-problem-in-child-protection-work/71858-news

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Experts All Over The World Excluding Canadian Experts Warn There's a Huge Problem With How Mental Health Problems Are Diagnosed.

(kiss child welfare's bread and butter good-bye, no more getting the results they want when they want them)

A new study, published in Psychiatry Research, has concluded that psychiatric diagnoses are scientifically worthless as tools to identify discrete mental health disorders.

The study, led by researchers from the University of Liverpool, involved a detailed analysis of five key chapters of the latest edition of the widely used Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), on 'schizophrenia', 'bipolar disorder', 'depressive disorders', 'anxiety disorders' and 'trauma-related disorders'.

Diagnostic manuals such as the DSM were created to provide a common diagnostic language for mental health professionals and attempt to provide a definitive list of mental health problems, including their symptoms.

The main findings of the research were:

Almost all diagnoses mask the role of trauma and adverse events.

Psychiatric diagnoses all use different decision-making rules...

There is a huge amount of overlap in symptoms between diagnoses.

Diagnoses tell us little about the individual patient and what treatment they need.

The authors conclude that diagnostic labelling represents 'a disingenuous categorical system'.

Lead researcher Dr Kate Allsopp, University of Liverpool, said: "Although diagnostic labels create the illusion of an explanation they are scientifically meaningless and can create stigma and prejudice. I hope these findings will encourage mental health professionals to think beyond diagnoses and consider other explanations of mental distress, such as trauma and other adverse life experiences."

Professor Peter Kinderman, University of Liverpool, said: "This study provides yet more evidence that the biomedical diagnostic approach in psychiatry is not fit for purpose. Diagnoses frequently and uncritically reported as 'real illnesses' are in fact made on the basis of internally inconsistent, confused and contradictory patterns of largely arbitrary criteria. The diagnostic system wrongly assumes that all distress results from disorder, and relies heavily on subjective judgments about what is normal."

Professor John Read, University of East London, said: "Perhaps it is time we stopped pretending that medical-sounding labels contribute anything to our understanding of the complex causes of human distress or of what kind of help we need when distressed."

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-07/uol-sfp070819.php

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190708131152.htm

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165178119309114?via%3Dihub

https://www.sciencealert.com/the-way-we-diagnose-psychiatric-conditions-is-scientifically-meaningless-researchers-argue

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325723.php#1

https://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/item/32842-study-psychiatric-diagnoses-worthless-and-scientifically-meaningless

https://neurosciencenews.com/meaningless-psychiatric-diagnosis-14434/

https://repository.uel.ac.uk/item/86w8q

https://www.studyfinds.org/study-psychiatric-diagnoses-are-scientifically-meaningless/

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The full study, entitled 'Heterogeneity in psychiatric diagnostic classification', can be found here:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2019.07.005