Dear editor,
For the past year we have heard four children died while in care of the Ministry. One child had been living on his own in a hotel for over 40 days. If a parent did this, they’d probably be charged with child neglect and endangerment.
Now we hear approximately 112 children, in care, were living in hotels. Then we watch the evening news and are informed there is a 16-year-old female child living in the homeless tent city in Victoria. She was interviewed and explained she had spent a goodly portion of her life “in care” and found living in the tent city preferable to living in a group home. How a 16-year-old girl goes from being in a foster home to a group home to tent city is beyond me. I think it’s also beyond the B.C. Liberal government, the minister responsible and the premier.
The response from the minister responsible, is the ministry can’t force any child to live anywhere. What some of us taxpaying citizens would like to know is how did this happen. Really, the minister, the premier, the cabinet are responsible for this child, but no one can explain how this child wound up living in a homeless camp.
The same newscast informed me that last year Christy Clark, the minister responsible, and the cabinet gave $600 million to the film industry. These film corporations are mostly American based. On Monday, we saw the premier, at a photo op “giving” $100 million of our tax dollars away to “tech. companies.”
Welfare for these corporations has to end and the business of looking after the children of this province has to become a priority.
E. A. Foster
Nanaimo