bility is TERRACE — At the end of October last year Marguerite Clarkson, a working single parent liv- ing in Terrace, was star- tled to discover she had become .the subject of a child abuse investigation by. the local office of the Ministry of Social Services and Housing. Although the allegations were later proven groundless, Clark- son feared her two-year- old daughter Linnea would be seized by the Ministry during the in- vestigation, and. she engaged a lawyer and went into hiding. In mid-April, six months after the incident, a report filed by the B.C. Ombudsman suggested several areas in which the local Ministry’s opera- ‘tions could be improved, but Clarkson said there are many underlying prob- lems that aren’t addressed by the-report. “I’m pleased that the Ministry of Social Services and Housing (MSSH) has been advised to deal with families: without creating stress,’’” Clarkson said, ‘but their method of go-- ing about obtaining war- rants should be altered, -and more attention should be given to questioning the credibility of anonymous callers. Complete credi- ‘anonymous complaints, and social workers then look. for evidence to sup- port the allegations.”’ > Clarkson said she learn- > ed from the investigating social worker that the _allegations against her had. eehey wea : ae fe whet 14 Terace Review — Wednesday, june 3, 1987 7 Mother says s rdnort On oca ministry actions falls short | emerged from given to: + ar > ome aon been filed by a babysitter. who became concered about:a cut on Linnea’s "lower lip. Although she was assured later in a telephone conversation with the worker that the MSSH was satisfied no abuse had taken place, Clarkson later received a request for .an interview. When she requested that the MSSH deal with the matter through her lawyer, MSSH district supervisor Colin Elliott obtained a warrant, entered and searched Clarkson’s house while she was absent, and . departed after waiting an . hour for her to return. Clarkson brought the situation to the attention of the B.C, Ombudsman and on Nov. 20 a meeting took place with Clarkson, : Guest; lawyer Ed De- Walle, Elliott, and social worker Jay Lees present _ under the chairmanship of Ombudsman. representa- tive Del Phillips. In the report that that meeting, the Ombudsman states, ‘In reviewing this in retrospect, it appears that the goal of meeting Linnea’s best interests became subordinated. in the escalation of the com- munication problem. .. the . Ministry should. make every effort to work with families, and avoid deal. ing with situations in a way that might compound anxiety or stress, It is our. strong recommendation that the Terrace office make every effort. to. meet . this goal. ” 7 Claire Guest, 7 SYSTEM OPEN TO ABUSE ~ Under the‘terms. of the. B.C. Family and Child. Service Act, anyone who - witnesses or ‘suspects © abuse or negligence ' of children is required to report the observations to appropriate’. authorities. The reporting . procedure guarantees confidentiality of the caller, © Claire -Guest . expressed serious concerns about the - opportunities for abuse of - the. reporting system. Guest‘said she has been in- ‘volved in a number of cases similar ta Clarkso6n’s. ae | don’t fault social . workers for trying to pro- tect kids, but in a lot of these cases they’re seen as heavies, and that’s unfor- tunate,”” she said. Guest -also observed that funding cuts and the elimination of family ‘support. workers have put social workers in. a difficult position.: Social Services Minister Claude Richmond. stated in. a letter during the course of developments in the Clarkson case that ac- cusations involving ap- ‘prehension must be brought before a court within seven days. Guest, . the however, pointed out that initial court ap- pearance is often an in- terim. report, with further -appearances:: scheduled weeks and. ‘sometimes months later’. There is: no, -specification in the Act regarding where the child is to be kept during. the in- tervening time, she said. In one local case, Guest. | said, a child was removed from: parents in June, when the accusations were leveled, and detained until a court date in November when the case was thrown [ out for lack of evidence. “The system is backwards because the onus is on the parents to prove their in- nocence,’’ she said. Ombudsman officer Brent Parfitt. said his agency receives a: number of complaints’ that’ he termed “deliberately vex- atious’’, greater concern is the cidents of abuse that con- tinue to-go unreported. - but le’ said ‘a ‘number of bona fide in- | a Parfitt said unfounded | ~ a ; complaints are norie- theless a source of con- ~ cern. “If .there’s mud thrown, some of it may stick; even if the accusa- tions are unfounded it’s still. a traumatic. ex- perience. ” a Marguerite Clarkson. and daughter Linnea abandoned their home and hid.with friends in Terrace for several‘days last year when an unfounded report of child abuse brought fears that Linnea might be apprehended by the Ministry of Soclat Ser- - vices and Housing. A recent report from the B.C..Ombudsman. racommends that the local ministry office deal with famiites in a way that produces loss stress and anxiety. : To the editor, - I believe that it is a mat. ter of interest for your readers to know that in the _ midst of the present flurry _of new herbicide Spraying ~ Accountability required permits there is growing evidence that the chemical Roundup is responsible for destroying desirable commercial conifers on a site that was aerially _ Government policy is problem — “Government policy on AIDS is impotent as at- . tested to by the tremen- dous spread of this dis- ease. Not only are they im- _ potent, they are downright - murderous. By not telling sex part- ners of those who have the disease that they have been exposed, leaving it to the victims to do so, they are failing to prevent fur- ther spread, that is, failing to do their. job. Somone * who has been involved with more than one part-_ ner in: the past few years isn’t going to want to phone those individuals and tell them that they will probably die, because they went to bed together. They’re liable to get shot for making that phone call. Government is in fact _ encouraging spread by this _ over-sight. « The mentality of gov- ernment officials seems to be geared towards reduc- ing panic, at the cost of human ‘lives. Why this obsession with. panic prevention and callous- - ness to life? Panic suppression was. evident, early in. the epidemic. When it was found that a few homo- sexuals had it, this fact was downplayed so that heterosexuals weren’t concerned. ‘This facilitated spread of the disease as did the failure of government to. isolate the individuals to prevent their contami- nating others. Then it was found in heterosexuals and it was claimed that this was only | in promiscuous people. Now children: in Van- couver schools are being found with it. What's gone wrong? Why are officials so gut- less and why is there a complete lack of effective leadership? I think that human rights have been carried too far. . People who knowingly spread AIDS should have severe curtailment of rights. Those who have > AIDS and know they do and have sex with others who don’t know, should be treated as crimin- als. Everyone in Canada should be tested on an “AIDS testing day and those found carrying it be denied an AIDS- -free health certificate to be car-' ried like a drivers licence... ‘Anyone travelling into. or out of the country would need to take new tests upon entry into Canada. Effective man- agement is as simple as that if in fact it is spread by sexual means alone. . This is a life and death emergency, a war against — a killer which has already. affected more people than - ‘Hitler had Jews put to- death, and the right of those unaffected, which is. their right to expect effec- tive control of this epi- demic, should take pre-- cedence over the sexual rights of the carriers. We need a temporary = TERRACE — The Royal Health equivalent of the war measures Act against AIDS and we need it now, before millions of Cana- dians die. In short, we need someone in Govern- ment with guts to step for- ward and take charge. If nobody emerges soon who can do the job right, I think that we-should fire the entire health depart- ment and hire people to do the job. Is there anyone out there with guts who will step forward?. -. Let.me predict what will really happen, Commit- tees will carry out studies and more studies and the disease will mutate and be spread by mosquitos and — horseflies and millions will die while civil libertarians debate the constitutionali- ty of labelling AIDS car- riers and some Christians _ will say its God’s will. Jorma Jyrkkanen | ‘Terrace, B.C, Legion backs ; a winner: by Roy Greening, . Chairman, Public Relations Committee, Branch 13, Royal Canadian Legion | Canadian Air Cadet ‘Squadron 747 building lo- cated at the Terrace-Kiti- mat Airport is a wonder in itself. One might say that it is just a building — tional and a good place to train the cadets but not that spectacular. Well, true, but what.is so won: ’ derful is how it became a . reality in the first place. Most, if not all cadet contismed on page 24 - func-. treated two years ago in the Kitimat valley. This fact became public. _last week during an appeal before the Environmental Appeal Board and subse- quent events indicate that the Forest Service .is very angry indeed about the public disclosure and in the process’ of trying. to have the source of the “leaked”? document either disciplined or fired from his job, . From my years of deal- ing with the Forest Service I am not surprised that they wish to hide the fact that Roundup kills . the -very trees that they are try-- ing to enhance because they have spent thousands and thousands of taxpayer dollars promoting and im- plementing conifer release. and if it were proved inef- fective, many advocates of chemical use would face continued on page 24. School District 88 Terrace Competition No. 2 VICE PRINCIPALSHIP SKEENA Jr. SECONDARY SCHOOL - Applications are invited for this position — to be effective September 1, 1987, from teachers witha distinguished record of secondary-teaching. Candidates should . have or be working towards a Masters Degree and have a vision of secondary education which reflects the: needs oF students. The School enrols 650 students In = q Grades 8, 9.and 10, and has a staff of 33, For further Information please phone the principal, Mr. Geoff Straker, 635-9136. - Persons applying should: obtain, in advance, the assurance that their _ district will grant them a release from contract. Please forward applications, complete : with supporting.documents to arrive by June 10, 1987 to: Frank M. Hamilton . Superintendent of Schools - 3211 Kenney Street, _ Terrace, B.C. V8G 3E9 .