Dix says 'disturbing' Sherry Charlie report questions Campbell government priorities

Vancouver - The edited final report released today into the 2002 death of 19-month-old Sherry Charlie is a disturbing document that shows the Campbell government failed in its implementation of a key policy change and put financial concerns before the needs of children, Children and Family Development Critic Adrian Dix said today.

"There is mounting evidence that a combination of budget cuts and shoddy implementation of changes in the Ministry of Children and Family Development has directly affected the standard of care for children in need," Dix said. "Particularly disturbing is the fact that the ministry provided inadequate draft guidelines to the agency handling Sherry Charlie's case, which was one of the first cases involving a 'kith and kin' agreement."

"Such an important new policy required much better implementation - especially since it was adopted in the midst of deep cuts to the child protection budget," said Dix, the MLA for Vancouver-Kingsway.

Children and Family Development Minister Stan Hagen has denied that the massive ministry cost cutting at the time Sherry Charlie was in care was a factor in the chain of events that led to her death. Hagen and his predecessors have also repeatedly boasted about the BC Liberal government's record in getting children out of care, and the associated cost-savings to government.

"The final report on the death of Sherry Charlie shows that the BC Liberal government has put cost cutting above the welfare of children, and face-saving above learning from this tragedy," Dix said."It is now almost 3 years since Sherry Charlie died, and this government has finally, under public pressure, produced the report on her death.

"If the Campbell government had not eliminated the Children's Commissioner, the public would have had a full report months ago. Yet just this week Mr. Hagen said that an independent watchdog for children would be 'redundant finger-pointing' and that taxpayers' dollars would wasted on a Children's Commissioner.

"We should be able to expect better from a government that has spent three years trying to spin the harsh realities of its own record," he said.