Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, am in full support of this motion and to the intent of the motion, which is that we need a review of the Child and Family Services Act. Like my colleague Mr. Abernethy, I want to state that I am not speaking against the activities, the jobs and the work that social workers do. I think that they do a fantastic job, as has already been stated. I support them, but children are our greatest resource and we need to protect them. The families who children live with are a necessary resource for children. At times, families break down so we need to have an act which works well, that can protect children and that also can assist families in providing that protection to children.

The motion states that there are expressed concerns with the current Child and Family Services Act. I won’t go into them. They have been mentioned in the whereases. They have been mentioned by my colleagues. There are concerns out there. I think they should be dealt with.

Over time society changes. Our expectations change. Accepted practices change. That is where we are at in relation to our Child and Family Services Act. Family law practice now as opposed to 10 years ago encourages that we avoid the court process. Certainly our act does not encourage the

avoidance of the court process. We are moving more towards mediation, conciliation and arbitration in many areas, but also in the area of family law. I think that is something that needs to be provided for in our act. Our act doesn’t allow for that. At the moment, the only option for a parent who has had a child apprehended is to go to court. That has proven to be a process which does not work. It is proven to be ineffective for the child and for the parents.

I also believe that we need to establish a child advocate. I was very pleased to see that the Department of Justice is considering the establishment of just such a position. We need to have someone who can act who is endowed with the authority to be the protector of our children’s rights. The Child and Family Services Act is a very large and very comprehensive piece of legislation. Any large, comprehensive piece of legislation should be renewed periodically. It was mentioned by Mr. Bromley that this one is 10 years old. Many pieces of legislation that we are currently putting in place have a provision for a review after a certain period of time. This particular act does not and it’s time, I believe, that we do review this piece of legislation. We need to determine whether or not the act is working as it should. Ten years ago, it was seen to be the be-all and the end-all, but as times change and as the act is actually put in place and we work through the processes, we have determined that there are some areas where it’s not working and certainly the anecdotal evidence, which I have heard and which other Members have heard and have seen, indicates that it is not working perfectly.

To me the review will identify areas of concerns and areas that are creating problems. It will allow us to look at those areas and to make recommendations to make the system better and that’s what I’m after. So I urge all Members to support this motion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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