The provincial government named Michele Dorsey on Friday as its first children’s commissioner and advocate.
The Office for Children and Youth will cost taxpayers $600,000 and include Dorsey, a children’s lawyer and a navigator.
Unlike the model used in other provinces where the office is an independent body of government, this one will have the mandate to work with other offices of government and the community. Dorsey will have a status similar to deputy ministers.
“This is a made-in-P.E.I. approach, and it’s consistent with our approach to other things, which is to work together to emphasize front-line services,’’ said Premier Wade MacLauchlan. “It can be proactive. It can take initiatives. It can promote the welfare of children. It can gather information.’’
Creating the position is contrary to what happened in 2016 when Liberal MLAs voted down a PC motion to name a child advocate.
“Let’s be clear; I said first things first,’’ MacLauchlan said in reference to the 2016 motion. “We put in place various programs to support grandparents and caregivers, student well-being teams, support for child enforcement, the office of the children’s lawyer… now it’s timely to have an office that co-ordinates, consolidates and helps to navigate these other services,’’ the premier said.
Friday’s announcement will now give the Office for Children and Youth two children’s lawyers. One already existed.
Dorsey said she is targeting April 1 to have staff in place. Her first priority will be to work through the myriad of reports sitting on various deputy ministers’ desks, such as the 2017 chief health officer’s children’s report.
Dorsey said each department has its responsibilities. Education deals with the K-12 system, health has mental health issues and justice has children and youth in custody.
“But, no one body has the whole picture or looks at it from a holistic fashion,’’ Dorsey said. “We’re trying to clear out hurdles and barriers to implementation.’’
She said it will also be to give youth a voice if they don’t feel their needs are being met.
Dorsey previously held deputy minister roles with the Department of Justice and Public Safety and, most recently, with the Department of Communities, land and Environment.
Both the Greens and PCs slammed the announcement for the same reason.
“I was excited about this announcement until I read the details because what’s been announced falls short of what’s needed,’’ said Opposition Leader James Aylward. “An independent child advocate would have greater authority and clout to do the job recommended by the jurors of the Campbell Hennessey coroner’s inquest.’’
That inquest involved the murder-suicide of a mother and her child.
Peter Bevan-Baker, leader of the Green party, calls it hugely disappointing.
“Island children deserve an independent non-partisan advocate – an advocate whose authority is set out in legislation, who is hired through an open merit-based process and who can act independently of government interference,’’ Bevan-Baker said. “That is not what the premier is providing.’’
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