New legislation will curb access to government information, says P.E.I. child advocate

A rewrite of P.E.I.'s child protection legislation will end up making it harder to access records to review how government services affect children, says the province's child and youth advocate.

That's a key component of Marvin Bernstein's mandate, as an independent officer of the P.E.I. Legislative Assembly.

In a Feb. 18 letter he sent to MLAs from all three parties represented in the legislature, Bernstein said it has been "both disappointing and surprising to me to see vigorous efforts made by a government department serving children, youth and families to severely limit my jurisdiction to access records."

Specifically, he said the new bill will narrow the authority of the Island's director of child protection to co-operate with his office through the disclosure of information.

If passed, it will mean he gets access to records without the consent of the parties involved only when he's investigating after a child has died or suffered a serious injury. 

The Department of Social Development and Housing is replacing P.E.I.'s Child Protection Act after a mandated five-year review.

Once passed, it will be known as the Child, Youth and Family Services Act. 

Bernstein has been reading drafts of the legislation as changes are made, and warns that the second draft is "even more severe and restrictive" than the first draft when it comes to limiting the availability of records. 

The advocate also said his "constant urgings" to the department to harmonize the new bill with the Child and Youth Advocate Act seem to have gone unheard.  

Speaking in the legislature last week, Social Development and Housing Minister Brad Trivers acknowledged the province had accepted only one of the 10 recommendations Bernstein's office made after seeing the first draft of the revised act. 

It was a recommendation to have periodic reviews carried out. 

Trivers said the rest of what Bernstein was asking for didn't have to be in the legislation; it could be implemented as policy outside the act.

Interim Liberal Leader Sonny Gallant took issue with that answer when questioning the premier, saying: "Why are you wasting taxpayers' dollars on consultation processes when your departments just do what they want anyway?"

Gallant said consultations about the new Residential Tenancy Act had been received the same way, with those seeking changes left frustrated.