Child unprotected before Oak Bay murder-suicide: report

The provincial government must take action to fight domestic abuse, British Columbia's independent children's representative says.

Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond made the recommendation in a report examining the stabbing death of six-year-old Victoria-area youngster Christian Lee.

Turpel-Lafond said police, ministry staff, lawyers and others all came in contact with the child's family, but the tremendous risk of harm to the boy was missed by social workers because necessary measures to assess and protect children are not in place.

"This is what happens when systems are not co-ordinated," Turpel-Lafond told a Victoria news conference Thursday.

"Often multiple accountabilities result in no accountability," Turpel-Lafond said.

The boy, his mother and grandparents were killed by the boy's father, Peter Lee, in a knife-wielding rampage through the family's Oak Bay home just east of Victoria in September, 2007.

Lee — who also killed himself — was free on bail after being charged with trying to harm his estranged wife because he was angry at her plans to divorce him .

Turpel-Lafond's report called for the province to take the lead in forming a co-ordinated, comprehensive approach to domestic violence. It also recommended a separate court for domestic violence cases.

Representatives of the provincial government said they are committed to making the system better.

"One of the challenges that was present in this case is that people were not talking to one another. We have to overcome that," Children And Family Development Minister Mary Polak said after the report's release.

"The interests of the child, the protection of the child, takes priority. I believe that, the government believes that," said Attorney General Michael de Jong.

The opposition urged the government to get on with the task of child protection.

"I want to see real action. I want us to learn and put the actions in place to address it," said opposition leader Carole James.