Alex Gervais's death: at least 23 children housed in B.C. hotels since last November
Revelation follows cabinet minister's admission she was not aware of placements
Questions surrounding the provision of services for children in foster care in B.C. remain after confirmation by the Ministry of Children and Family Development that vulnerable youth have regularly been housed in hotels over the past year.
According to the ministry, 23 foster children have been placed in hotels since November 2014, with an average stay of five days.
But that number is far lower than B.C.'s children's representative believes to be true.
- Teen in B.C. provincial care dies in fall from hotel window
- At least 1 other child in B.C. care is living in a hotel: minister
The office of Mary-Ellen Turpel-Lafond estimates between 30 and 50 youth in provincial care are placed in hotels every year in B.C.
"We consider this a conservative estimate and that the number could be more," according to an email from Turpel-Lafond's office Friday.
Alex Gervais, 18, died last week after falling or jumping from a fourth-floor Super 8 hotel room where he had been sent to live, alone and unsupervised. He had been moved a total of 16 times within the B.C. foster system, and was still in government care when he died.
On Thursday, six days after the teen's death, B.C. Children and Family Development Minister Stephanie Cadieux admitted she still had no idea who placed the teen in the hotel, or why her ministry's own guidelines around youth placement in hotels were not followed.
The minister also said she knew of only one other child currently living in a hotel in the province.
Premier backs Cadieux
Despite calls for the minister to resign, Premier Christy Clark said Friday that she stands behind her minister.
The premier said that she is "eye to eye" with Cadieux over the minister's assertion that nobody told her children were being housed in hotels.
What happened to Gervais is unacceptable, Clark said, but she said the blame should be placed on the Abbotsford agency responsible for the teen.