Yukon's Education Department prepped briefing on Hidden Valley sex abuse case in early 2020

The Yukon's Education Department was planning communications as early as December 2019 around a Hidden Valley Elementary School educational assistant who sexually abused a student, according to documents obtained by the CBC.

The documents, which the CBC received through an access-to-information request, include a draft letter to parents informing them of William Auclair-Bellemare's arrest about a month after it happened, and a briefing note prepared for then-education minister Tracy McPhee in early 2020. 

However, there was apparently no effort to share information with Hidden Valley parents or the public until this July, when the CBC published a story about a lawsuit filed by the victim against Auclair-Bellemare and the Yukon government. 

Additional alleged victims have since been identified and both the Yukon RCMP and Education Department recently issued public apologies for how they handled the situation. 

The CBC requested an interview with McPhee but did not hear back before deadline. 

DM approved briefing note in March 2020

Email chains show a scramble among education staff in the days after Hidden Valley principal John Duclos sent the CBC's story to assistant deputy minister Ryan Sikkes and area superintendent Donna Miller-Fry on July 16, the same day it was published. 

Attached to one of the replies is a three-page session briefing note prepared for McPhee and approved by deputy minister Nicole Morgan dated March 3, 2020, with recommended responses for before and after Auclair-Bellemare's "sentencing/termination." 

Also included is a draft of a letter to parents dated Dec. 18, 2019, that was apparently never sent. 

"This is to inform you that today the RCMP brought forward charges against a Hidden Valley Elementary School staff member," the letter reads in part. 

"The health and safety of students is our first priority. As the incident is under investigation by the RCMP, we are not able to provide further details. However, we felt it important to notify parents."

The letter is signed by principal Duclos. The documents do not say why the letter was never sent. 

Morgan, the deputy education minister, previously told media her department hadn't informed parents at the time because it was trying to navigate a publication ban and other privacy issues.

The publication ban in place at the time, as well as the publication bans related to Auclair-Bellemare's current charges, do not prohibit identifying him — only the identity of the children involved, and details disclosed during his bail hearings.

Justice Department advised against letter to parents

The Education Department, including the minister's office, began receiving calls and emails from Hidden Valley parents in the days following the publication of the CBC's story.

On July 21, Sikkes, in a chain discussing an email from an angry parent, wrote that the department needed "to consider sending a letter to the school community confirming the facts" about Auclair-Bellemare's criminal proceedings. 

However, that idea was quashed the next day. Erin MacDonald, who was then the education department's director of community relations and engagement, wrote that the Justice Department had "strongly recommended that we do not send out a general letter to the school community, as it could be viewed as making a statement to influence while this matter is coming before the courts."

The Yukon government assigned a lawyer "to provide legal assistance on this matter" the next week. 

Hidden Valley parents did not receive responses until Aug. 5, nearly three weeks after the first parents began contacting department officials. 

'Troubling incidents' reported to police in July

Sikkes, the assistant deputy minister, also prepared an updated session briefing note for current education minister Jeanie McLean, a draft of which he shared with colleagues on July 23. A bullet under the "context" section states that "news coverage has resulted in other disclosures of troubling incidents involving the employee that have been reported to the RCMP." 

The same day, Const. Summer Gardiner with the Whitehorse RCMP's specialized response unit sent an email to the education department's human resources manager, asking her to give her a call back. 

MacDonald, the education department's now-former director of community relations and engagement, shared a draft "issue alert" for McLean on July 28.

The draft contained a summary of Auclair-Bellemare's criminal proceedings as well as the date the victim filed the lawsuit and the date the CBC published its story. It also noted the "disclosures of other troubling incidents" to police following the story, "a new Facebook group" created by "concerned parents," and rumours of protests "that could be taking place."

Meanwhile, another draft briefing intended for deputy minister Morgan stated that the department had no official protocol on what to do in the case of a school staff member sexually abusing a student. 

'We are not directly addressing the questions asked'

The CBC sent a media request to the Education Department on Aug. 2 seeking comment on growing concerns from Hidden Valley parents about the lack of communication from officials.

Despite having produced at least three detailed briefing documents prior to receiving the request — two of them in the week-and-a-half before — the department responded with an email only containing information on how to contact victim services, claiming it was "not in a position to comment further" because "this matter is now before the courts."

While drafting the response, MacDonald wrote to Matthew Cameron, the manager of communications for the premier's office, to seek advice, noting that "we are not directly addressing the questions asked." 

The department drafted another media response after the CBC sent a follow-up email with detailed questions and stating it was not asking about court matters, with a recommended reply of, "We have no further comment at this time."