Ontario's Liberal government stonewalled for months instead of answering questions related to a youth who claims he was beaten by guards while in provincial custody, Children's Advocate Irwin Elman charged today.
Last week, Elman announced that he was being forced to take legal action against the Ministry of Children's and Youth Services after provincial officials ignored repeated requests for information, some of it general and some of it specific to the youth who had turned to his office for help.
"There is one investigation report that I've asked for repeatedly over the past four months (and) unfortunately had to take step of pursuing this in court," Elman told a legislative committee today.
"This will cost the taxpayers' money, but more than that, it comes at the risk to the young person who advised the advocate's office that retaliation had been threatened in the event that the young person chose to pursue the request for the investigation report."
Elman complained he can't even get a list of licensed group homes in Ontario from the ministry, and said that a youth at risk shouldn't have to endure threats to get help from the child advocate's office.
"I am impressed by the bravery of this youth, but I think we all know there was no need for the situation to go this far," he told the committee.
"The ability of the provincial advocate to get answers in response to a concern about the safety and well being of young people should not depend on the courage of the young person who makes the complaint, or on the depth of the taxpayers' pocket."
Children's Minister Deb Matthews said her office would hand over the files requested by Elman "sometime this week," and insisted the province had not been trying to block the advocate's requests but was merely obeying rules on privacy of personal information.
"We need to be careful that we follow the steps that we need to take to release the information," Matthews said in an interview. ``We've been working with the advocate . . . so it's the normal course of events."
Not so, insisted the NDP.
"The bottom line is they've stonewalled this information," said NDP critic Andrea Horwath.
"This person is the one that went to the advocate for help, so saying that information must be kept private when that's the young person crying out for help from the advocate's office, there's obviously a game being played here."
Matthews said the child and youth advocate was a relatively new position with protocols for sharing of information still being worked out by the Liberal government, and suggested Elman was merely testing his powers in court.
"He said in a letter he wants to test the provisions, and he can do that if he wishes," she said. "My job is to make sure he gets the information that he needs in a way that complies with the other restrictions."
Elman told the committee that silence and secrets in families leave a toxic residue and a long lasting legacy for young people, and accused the Liberal government of maintaining a "veil of silence" which he said creates a culture that parallels abusive families.
"This game of trying to stonewall, of trying to obfuscate facts and prevent young people from speaking out and learning about the very acts of violence that have happened against them, has got to end."
