Shame on you Christy Clark

[maryjane48]

She was found unconscious on sidewalks and transit buses. Once, paramedics pulled her from a basement with a 14-year-old friend who was naked and covered in blood. A police officer warned she may be hurt or killed while drunk.

These are just a few of the horrific incidents documented by a report examining the life and death of Paige, a 19-year-old legally blind aboriginal girl who overdosed in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Social workers who were supposed to protect her did nothing to help, revealing a broken system that casually disregards the needs of aboriginal children, says British Columbia's representative for children and youth.


"Paige's files are rife with examples of situations in which workers seemed to throw up their hands and declare: 'What can we do?' rather than doing everything that was in their power," Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond said in the report.

"If a parent in B.C. had treated their child the way the system treated Paige, we may be having a debate over criminal responsibility. Yet there appears to be systemic resistance to naming this problem."

Paige's aunt, Frances Robson, and uncle Lorne shook with tears after Turpel-Lafond finished delivering the scathing report at a news conference Thursday.

Robson said it was painful to hear new details of her niece's troubled life.

"It was just hard seeing her picture up there," said Robson. "When you see her there and you see that she's actually gone, that was the hardest part."

She and her husband tried several times to get custody of their niece, but were rejected when they asked for money to pay for a two-bedroom apartment and groceries, Robson said.

Paige, whose last name is not revealed in the report, died in a washroom in a city park in April 2013.

The report describes her as a bright young girl who loved animals and was eager to learn, despite her chaotic life. Her mother struggled with substance abuse and moved her more than 50 times to different homeless shelters and hotels.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/05/15 ... 85374.html


its all about the kids hey christy ? unless your first nations and then , its lets see how fast we can exterminate few of them child care services come into play

[alfred2]

the mother is to blame, where is the father? It is easy to blame the govt., but she was an adult and did what she wanted. Why have the relatives not helped when she was a little girl? You always say because she was native, that is a lot of bull and what is expected coming from you. If an addict does not want help , how do you force it on them. Since you can complain all the time, give us some positive action that can be taken and get off the bs you spout.

[FreeRights]

I definitely agree that there should be more funding for social services - for everyone, not just aboriginals - and that may have been a positive impact on this tragedy.

On the other hand, though, there simply has to be personal accountability as well. Vancouver has a lot of social services available, but as long as you're capable of making your own decisions, the government doesn't have the right to force you to take advantage of any of them.

In Vancouver, there's a lot of homeless shelters, moderate weather in the event you can't get in one, government subsidized housing, a safe injection site and harm reduction, tons of avenues to rehabilitation opportunities, as well as many options to eat 2-3 times a day for free.

I understand that her upbringing would have contributed and made this very difficult for her, but all the funding in social services in the world will have no effect on people who don't willingly take advantage of it.

This exact same story occurs in Vancouver to non-aboriginals with positive backgrounds as well, but that doesn't get reported on. It doesn't matter who you are or what your background is, everyone still has to take some accountability and has to actually want help.

[alfred2]

GREAT post and how very true, do not blame society for your problems, and do not shout racist.

[maryjane48]

I definitely agree that there should be more funding for social services - for everyone, not just aboriginals - and that may have been a positive impact on this tragedy.

On the other hand, though, there simply has to be personal accountability as well. Vancouver has a lot of social services available, but as long as you're capable of making your own decisions, the government doesn't have the right to force you to take advantage of any of them.

In Vancouver, there's a lot of homeless shelters, moderate weather in the event you can't get in one, government subsidized housing, a safe injection site and harm reduction, tons of avenues to rehabilitation opportunities, as well as many options to eat 2-3 times a day for free.

I understand that her upbringing would have contributed and made this very difficult for her, but all the funding in social services in the world will have no effect on people who don't willingly take advantage of it.

This exact same story occurs in Vancouver to non-aboriginals with positive backgrounds as well, but that doesn't get reported on. It doesn't matter who you are or what your background is, everyone still has to take some accountability and has to actually want help.

all true but zero to do with the story im afraid . if you read what it says and i will quote so its easy :)




Social workers who were supposed to protect her did nothing to help, revealing a broken system that casually disregards the needs of aboriginal children, says British Columbia's representative for children and youth. now what is being said here is simply , social workers did zero to help this child , and because she was fn, it wasn't that big of deal to the childcare workers . and it is being said by bc rep for child and youth , not bc rep for native child and youth , so im feeling confident they have seen the difference of care compared to your skin color . truth is not always pretty




"If a parent in B.C. had treated their child the way the system treated Paige, we may be having a debate over criminal responsibility. Yet there appears to be systemic resistance to naming this problem."


so in other words , if any parent had been caught treating their own kids in this way , they would be facing child neglect charges .the resistance is the clark goverment not wanting to appear to be soft on first nation issues, cant have harper thinking bc might care about the first nations folks can we?



She and her husband tried several times to get custody of their niece, but were rejected when they asked for money to pay for a two-bedroom apartment and groceries, Robson said.

and there goes your theory that her family was not trying to help , which places the blame squarely back on the ministries shoulders

[maryjane48]

*removed*

[alfred2]

*removed*

[FreeRights]

Social workers who were supposed to protect her did nothing to help, revealing a broken system that casually disregards the needs of aboriginal children, says British Columbia's representative for children and youth.

now what is being said here is simply , social workers did zero to help this child , and because she was fn, it wasn't that big of deal to the childcare workers . and it is being said by bc rep for child and youth , not bc rep for native child and youth , so im feeling confident they have seen the difference of care compared to your skin color . truth is not always pretty

I'm curious what they are supposed to "do?" What didn't they, specifically, do for her that they would have done for a white person?

We should absolutely not have a BC Rep for Native Child and Youth. My god, you talk of racism...

"If a parent in B.C. had treated their child the way the system treated Paige, we may be having a debate over criminal responsibility. Yet there appears to be systemic resistance to naming this problem."


so in other words , if any parent had been caught treating their own kids in this way , they would be facing child neglect charges .the resistance is the clark goverment not wanting to appear to be soft on first nation issues, cant have harper thinking bc might care about the first nations folks can we?

Seriously? You're going to blame the Clark government for a parental failure, the majority of which occurred outside of the Clark term?

Did you know that there are actually a lot of examples of this exact thing in the downtown eastside, who aren't native? What you're asking for is specifically favoritism.

She and her husband tried several times to get custody of their niece, but were rejected when they asked for money to pay for a two-bedroom apartment and groceries, Robson said.

and there goes your theory that her family was not trying to help , which places the blame squarely back on the ministries shoulders

I wonder if that's why they were rejected. I'd like more information on that, because they aren't going to reject that if she would be going to a better home.

But overall, who chose to take drugs? Who chose not to get any help at all? I think this actually adds a lot of context.

"Paige's files are rife with examples of situations in which workers seemed to throw up their hands and declare: 'What can we do? rather than doing everything that was in their power," Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond said in the report.

Again, if a person is unwilling to get help, there's nothing anybody can do.

[vegas1500]

the mother is to blame, where is the father? It is easy to blame the govt., but she was an adult and did what she wanted. Why have the relatives not helped when she was a little girl? You always say because she was native, that is a lot of bull and what is expected coming from you. If an addict does not want help , how do you force it on them. Since you can complain all the time, give us some positive action that can be taken and get off the bs you spout.

I agree. Why title the thread " shame on Christy Clark"? There are so many levels between the family and her but ultimately it was her fault??? The system may be broken but to point directly at her is wrong IMO. If people in this world were more accountable for their actions it would be a much simpler world.....but then we wouldn't have these ridiculous castanet posts to read...

[twobits]

Shame on Christy? Wow. You must have an awesome pair of yoga pants cuz I have never seen anything being stretched that far before.

Next Vixen thread topic...."Shame on Christy for letting oil drop to 50 bucks a barrel and un employing hundreds in the solar panel installation industry.

[rookie314]

Christie cares only about one thing, making her books look good and she will do anything, including abandoning the people of BC to do it!!

[Danielson99]

Christie cares only about one thing

I stopped reading after that. Is there any point in knowing a persons opinion when they are so obviously ignorant of the truth? I'm not a Christie Clark fan, just someone who doesn't spend my life wearing blinders.

[Smurf]

The whole article is the opinion of the writer, who might or might not have all the facts. Did the writer know anything about the situation with the aunt and uncle. Would she be better off or not with them. Does anyone know.

I think we could throw an endless amount of money at these situations, but we don't have it. Was there some fault, possibly, but we don't know anything for sure other than her family failed her. Even that could be partially wrong because if someone doesn't want to be helped you can't help them. Where the family actually failed her was when they allowed her to get on this track in the first place. From them on who knows.

A terrible sad situation that plays out every day for many people but there is no magic cure and it is certainly not money.

[maryjane48]

Stroke victim Peter Peczek believes mistakes and delays in the "failing" health-care system wrecked his life.

"I felt I was just pushed over. Next — your 15 minutes is up," said Peczek. "I just needed somebody to take me seriously."

The B.C. man said he couldn't get in to see a neurologist or get an MRI at a hospital. Then, a private MRI clinic failed to detect his life-threatening condition.

Peter Peczek Rehab
Following his stroke, Peczek spent several months learning how to walk again. (Peczek family)

Soon afterward, he had a serious stroke that put him in the intensive care unit.

"They basically gave me three days to live. I wasn't breathing on my own," said Peczek, who can no longer drive or support his family since getting out of hospital last year.

"I cannot walk … my balance is very poor … I am alive by the grace of God."

Doctors familiar with his case told Go Public that if his MRI had been read accurately, or if he'd been assessed by a neurologist, his stroke might have been averted with medication.



http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.3076099

[FreeRights]

Stroke victim Peter Peczek believes mistakes and delays in the "failing" health-care system wrecked his life.

"I felt I was just pushed over. Next — your 15 minutes is up," said Peczek. "I just needed somebody to take me seriously."

The B.C. man said he couldn't get in to see a neurologist or get an MRI at a hospital. Then, a private MRI clinic failed to detect his life-threatening condition.

Peter Peczek Rehab
Following his stroke, Peczek spent several months learning how to walk again. (Peczek family)

Soon afterward, he had a serious stroke that put him in the intensive care unit.

"They basically gave me three days to live. I wasn't breathing on my own," said Peczek, who can no longer drive or support his family since getting out of hospital last year.

"I cannot walk … my balance is very poor … I am alive by the grace of God."

Doctors familiar with his case told Go Public that if his MRI had been read accurately, or if he'd been assessed by a neurologist, his stroke might have been averted with medication.



http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.3076099

So there should clearly be an investigation as to why he "couldn't" attend a public healthcare facility. They don't really explore that part very much, and it's a fairly important part of an article that claims that they failed.