VICTORIA – British Columbia’s representative for children says the Liberal government has ignored most of her major reform recommendations, including action plans on child poverty, domestic violence and aboriginal children.
Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond estimates the budget for the Ministry of Children and Family Development has been cut by almost $100 million over six years and she says that has hurt program development.
Turpel-Lafond tabled a report today that looks over the progress by government for recommendations made by her office up until 2013.
“This report speaks to the difficulty I’ve had, particularly up to 2011 on getting any movement,” Turpel-Lalond said. “And since 2011, getting some movement but not enough, things have fallen off on some of the big issues recently.”
She says the government has acted on 72 per cent of those suggestions over a six-year period, but the most important ones have been overlooked.
Turpel-Lafond says she’s made 148 recommendations in 22 reports.
She concludes the government must step up its commitment to help B.C.’s most vulnerable children and youth.
In response to Turpel-Lafond’s report, Minister of Children and Family Development Stephanie Cadieux said she believes the government has made good progress on the recommendations.
“We’ve made some really good progress — more than 72 per cent of the recommendations have been addressed,” Cadieux said. “We have addressed other ones in ways that perhaps are different from the way the representative would like to them to be addressed. But certainly there is a lot of work that has gone on and a lot of work that definitely continues to improve services for youth and children in the province.”
~ with files from Global BC
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