‘I’m just telling Nick’s story’: Grieving father responds to letter from MCFD

A grieving father is speaking out again today about his son who died while in provincial care.

After speaking to the media two days ago, Peter Lang says he received a letter from the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) warning that his son’s privacy rights were breached by Peter speaking out about his son’s case.

“I was quite surprised at how quickly it solicited a response,” says Peter.

Nick Lang was 15 when he took his own life earlier this year. He was addicted to meth and was placed with a family in Campbell River while he attended a treatment program for drug addiction that was paid for by the ministry.

The family says their son was not properly supervised while he was in care, but his host family says they were never informed that Lang needed constant supervision. He died after being in government care for six days.

Peter says he would like to see a public inquiry into what happened and the ministry’s letter was an attempt to keep him quiet.

“It’s only going to serve to make me talk more,” he says, adding that he thinks the letter was an attempt to get him to stop talking.

“I think someone said ‘hey, let’s try and shut this guy up’, but if you want to shut me up, it’s not by sending me legal letters, it’s by maybe talking to me.”

B.C.’s Representative for Children and Youth, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond says the ministry has started a complete review and she will be following it very closely.

“It does appear that there is a pattern with these kids,” she says. “And as I’ve reported before, kids with complex needs that need high level support are sometimes not placed in the right resource.”

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Peter says the most disturbing part about the letter was the fact that lawyers cost a lot of money.

“It seems they go to no end, the provincial government, to spend money on lawyers,” he says.