Ontario's Bill 93 2008 (*Formerly Bill 88 2006)

RE: Bill 93 - An Act to amend the Ombudsman Act with respect to children's aid societies

As you are likely aware, complaints about the various children's aid agencies are an ongoing problem in many Ontario communities.  Every year a number of children in Ontario are being killed, being sexually abused, beaten, neglected and/or exploited while in care of CAS.  There are countless stories of abuse of children and families by CAS workers and agencies and more of these horror stories are being exposed every day largely as a result of citizens beginning to share information through the Internet about the injustices they face. . Serious problems with CAS agencies have been allowed to continue for many years with much damage to children and families in Ontario and at great cost to the provincial economy.

Many of the workers who cause so much of this damage are not even allowed to engage in social work or call themselves social workers as the vast majority of CAS workers are not registered with the Ontario College of Social Workers. While the Province of Ontario enacted legislation to create the Ontario College of Social Workers with the clear intention of protecting the public%u2019s interest, CAS agencies have been allowed to skirt the intent of legislation by simply referring to their workers as %u201Cchild protection workers%u201D thus allowing their workers to avoid scrutiny and oversight by the College of Social Workers.  Questions must be asked as to why CAS workers and agencies are allowed so much power yet allowed to blatantly make a mockery of the very legislation intended to protect children and families in Ontario.

When dealing with children%u2019s aid agencies, the citizens of Ontario do not have the same protections as they would have when dealing with various government agencies. As private charitable organizations, children%u2019s aid agencies are exempt from such basic protections offered to the citizens under Freedom of Information legislation and by the Ontario Ombudsman%u2019s Office.  Lack of accountability and transparency has been a complaint about the child protection system for years, yet children%u2019s aid agencies in Ontario are still allowed to hide behind the veil of secrecy granted to them as private charitable organizations.  As many citizens know, CAS agencies use their unlimited source of funds from the taxpayers and their high paid legal law firms to destroy any family who dares to expose the wrongdoing of any CAS agency.

I would like to see children%u2019s aid agencies be more accountable and transparent to the citizens and taxpayers of Ontario by giving the Ombudsman of Ontario the authority to investigate complaints about the CAS.  Currently, most other provinces in Canada have Ombudsman oversight, yet Ontario does not.  To support claims that CAS agencies need greater oversight, for your reference I have provided a list of information sources at the end of this letter.  In addition to these references, I would also suggest that you simply log on to YouTube and to do a search under %u201Cchildren%u2019s aid society%u201D to see countless horror stores about CAS.  Many citizens are beginning to speak up.

Currently, there is a private member%u2019s bill before the Legislature, Bill 93, which passed first reading in June of 2008.  It was introduced by Andrea Horwath from Hamilton Centre Riding.  A number of signatures have already been collected from the Oakville riding on a petition in support Bill 93. The citizens of Ontario are beginning to understand that magnitude of the problem with CAS in Ontario and want these ongoing problems and the needless expense to the taxpayers to be eliminated.

As my member of the provincial Legislature, I would kindly ask that you to familiarize yourself with Bill 93 and to provide your utmost attention and support to this Bill so that it will be passed into law as quickly as possible. While having the Ombudsman oversee children aid agencies may not fix all of the problems, it is a step in the right direction and will help to eliminate some of the many problems that have been repeatedly plaguing CAS agencies in Ontario.

At this time I would greatly appreciate being advised as to whether you are willing to support Bill 93 when this Bill is brought up for a vote.  If you are uncertain, then I would be more than willing to arrange a joint meeting with a number of other constituents from the riding so that we can discuss this issue in depth in order to gain your full support on this important issue.

Not only will children and families benefit from having Ombudsman oversight of the CAS, but expenditures of tax dollars will likely be reduced as a result of workers acting with greater due diligence in their work, knowing that the Ombudsman has the power to investigate complaints and to make recommendations.

Should you need more information, members of our group have hundreds of other articles which clearly show that CAS agencies in Ontario continue to abuse tax dollars and needlessly tear many families apart this helping to destroy the very social fabric of our society. Members of our local group would also be willing to provide support to any person who may contact your office looking for help when dealing with a CAS agency so feel free to have staff pass on my phone number.

Your response in writing would be most appreciated.