'They would have a voice': UNICEF representative says P.E.I. needs a child advocate

Saskatchewan's former child advocate is in Charlottetown this week and spoke with government officials and members of the opposition parties about forming a child advocate's office on P.E.I.

Marv Bernstein is now the Chief Policy Advisor for UNICEF Canada but he served as Saskatchewan's child advocate from 2005-2010.

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He said that it is important for the province to set up a child advocate's office because "no child should be left behind."

"These offices exist in every other Canadian province, and children in P.E.I. shouldn't be short-changed," he said. 

"Families shouldn't have to move to other jurisdictions to be able to access this kind of service."

'Enormous societal change'

Bernstein said that during his time as the child advocate in Saskatchewan his office initiated a broad investigation into the problems facing children in that province.

Through this, he was able to identify issues with the foster parent program.

"A small minority of foster parents saw these children as revenue-producing, so bringing in more and more children provided more income," he said. 

"Other foster parents were just very well intentioned but were kind of naive about the complexity and special needs of these children."

His office put forward recommendations which led to the province investing more money in the foster parent recruiting program, a greater number of foster parents, and putting more money into preventing children from becoming part of the foster-care system, as well as a child-welfare review.

"There was enormous societal change helping these children," he said.

"And because we are independent of government, we're able to report on this publicly."

Independent from government

Bernstein said the recent addition of a children's lawyer by the province is a positive step, but that a child advocate has a wider range of responsibilities.

"One of the distinctions is that the role of a child advocate is to promote and protect the human rights of all children," he said.

"The role of a children's lawyer is to represent the legal interests in a child in a particular court proceeding."

He said that a children's lawyer acts as a branch of the government.

"It isn't independent of government in the same way that a child advocate's office is," he said.

Bernstein added that being independent from the government allows advocates to raise issues and take action a children's lawyer may not be able to manage.

"Sometimes government may be resistant to some of those recommendations going public, that might seem at times to be critical of government's performance," he said.

"You have the ability to speak up, table annual reports, special reports, speak to the media publicly about what's happening, to try and influence society to change, and to make the public much more aware of what's happening," he said.

 "And what can be done differently to improve the life conditions of these children and getting everybody in the province concerned."

'Why has it taken so long?'

Bernstein said that Canada ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child over 25 years ago, and as part of that agreement, each province is supposed to have a child advocate's office.

"Why has it taken so long for P.E.I. to establish an office of the child advocate, because that is one of the expectations, one of the requirements by ratifying the convention, by the provinces endorsing this, that you're obligated to follow through."

The initial recommendations for a child advocate on P.E.I. came about because of the death of a child and his mother relating to mental health issues and a custody battle.

Bernstein said that the role of a child advocate involves investigating child deaths and critical injuries.

"Sometimes this will lead to identifying gaps in services, it could be mental health services, it could be domestic violence, it could be families suffering from addictions," he said.

"So advancing recommendations, tabling them and speaking more generally to the state of child well being within the province."

Too high a cost?

The province has estimated the cost of creating a child advocate's office between $700,000 and $1.3 million.

Bernstein said that for a province the size of P.E.I. those figures seemed high, and that the office can be started small and built up over time when more funding becomes available. 

He said that the creation of a child advocate's office is important to make sure children across the Island are protected.

"It is so vital for children in this province to have the same opportunity that's enjoyed by children everywhere else in this country," he said.

"They would have a voice."

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