Teen’s death sparks `broken system’ investigation

VANCOUVER – An RCMP investigation into the tragic life of an aboriginal teenager is unprecedented and overdue, says British Columbia’s representative for children and youth.

The investigation comes in light of Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond’s report about 19-year-old Paige, who died of an overdose in a washroom on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside in 2013.

Turpel-Lafond said in the report released in May that Paige endured a “broken system” characterized by persistent indifference from front-line government workers.

A spokeswoman for the Mounties confirmed Friday that police are investigating the allegations about Paige, whose last name was not released, but said the scope of the investigation hasn’t been determined.

READ MORE: B.C. aboriginal teen failed by system, argues report

Turpel-Lafond has long called for enforcement of a law that requires all members of the public — including police, health-care workers and educators — to report child abuse or children living in dangerous situations to the Ministry of Children and Family Development.

Failing to do so could result in a fine of up to $10,000, six months in jail or both, but no one has ever been charged.

“This investigation that the RCMP has opened is a bit of a historic one because this aspect of our child welfare law has not been taken seriously enough,” Turpel-Lafond said Friday.

Paige’s short life included a series of troubling incidents.

She was found unconscious on sidewalks and transit buses, a police officer warned she might be hurt or killed while drunk, and paramedics once pulled her from a basement with a friend who was naked and covered in blood.

Many front-line workers saw Paige was at risk over the years but they failed to report that she was a child in need of protection, Turpel-Lafond said.

“This is actually a legal responsibility. You don’t get to choose not to do this. You have got to do this.”

She said Paige’s tragic case should be a wake-up call.

WATCH: BC’s children advocate says the government’s handling of the case of a teenager who died of a drug overdose is borderline criminal. Catherine Urquhart reports.

“Even launching a police investigation that will look seriously at what every person involved with Paige did or did not do, and whether they met the legal standards, that is welcome because we need that kind of tune-up in our child welfare system in B.C.”

Turpel-Lafond made six recommendations in her report.

They included a call for the Children’s Ministry to immediately address the “persistent professional indifference” of police, social workers and educators towards aboriginal youth. She also wants the ministry ensure no children in its care live in single-room occupancy hotels.

Paige moved more than 50 times, living in foster homes, single-room occupancy hotels and homeless shelters from 2009 until her death in 2013, Turpel-Lafond said.

A Children’s Ministry spokesman said he could not comment on the investigation, but that the ministry would fully co-operate with police.

The spokesman, who did not wish to be named, said the ministry is planning to report in the next several weeks on its efforts to meet the recommendations.

“Enforcing the child welfare legislation, in my opinion, that’s got to be the ground floor,” Turpel-Lafond said. “And British Columbia hasn’t done it. We need to start doing it.”