I received a response from the government lawyers yesterday.
I was reminded of how good some lawyers are at word play; it’s as if their tongue is a roller-coaster and their words come out twisted and turned and unkempt and too fast. Here’s the response and, if you’re interested, you can read my response to the response which will have to be filed in court, of course, because believe me, the justice system is very fond of paper.
Page 2 Part 4 (1) (2)
First of all, when we all appeared before Master Caldwell, he did not find that my application was deficient; rather, he directed me to amend the order to read “The Queen to the Right of the Province of British Columbia” as opposed to “The Ministry for Children and Families.” I was also directed to name myself as Guardian ad litum for my children. Furthermore, Master Caldwell declined to throw this case right out the window, despite the wheedling of the government lawyer for him to do so and despite the complexity of the case. As a matter of fact, Master Caldwell stated that I was very close to proving gross negligence, hence his direction to amend the wording. Proof of his statements will be found in court clerk notes.
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I would simply like to add here that the lawyer is stating that the government felt I was abusing my child. It ‘s interesting then, that my children were taken from me, the parent they suspected of child abuse, and turned them over to their father, a parent I suppose they didn’t suspect of abuse even though he was, at that time, serving house arrest for the rape of a 15-year-old girl, smoking crack cocaine with his, and mine, 13-year-old daughter and forcing her into prostitution. He frequently told my daughters I didn’t love them, withheld them from me during my custodial time and lied to various members of the local RCMP and police departments regarding their whereabouts. As a matter of fact, at a previous court appearance before Judge Pothecary in 2006, Constable Simpson of the Maple Ridge RCMP was subpoenaed by me, to give testimony regarding that very fact.
There is a lot to be said about what happened during those years, the years before now, when there was a different ministry lawyer who was unable to provide the court with any evidence that I had abused my daughters. They could have, however, provided evidence that my daughters were in the custody of a man who had very recently sexually assaulted a young girl and who, ironically, was later arrested for the same thing in 2007, at which point my younger daughter came to live, full time, with me. (I have sole custody of Meg and have had since 2007.)
The rest of the document leaves ME chilled, never mind the social workers. It’s as if there is no recourse to hold social workers accountable for any indecent acts of negligence, as if they receive some sort of carte blanche for practicing social work, a ‘get out of jail free’ card.
Furthermore, I do have a lawyer friend who advises on legal matters as they pertain to this case. If there is a test of fitness that I am required to take to prove my worthiness to defend my daughters legally, I will take that test. You see, I’m not afraid. I’m not afraid of any of it. I am, however, enraged by all of it.
I agree that child protection is an ugly profession; many social workers get burned out and many don’t last long in this particular area of social work. That’s no excuse for not doing their job.
Last but not least, you will see that the government has asked me to pay costs. I realize this is pretty standard, but man! Look at the incredible effort it requires to have your government admit it has erred and the lengths it will go to preserve its’ dysfunctional modus operandi, to the point of further damaging and traumatizing families.
I’m confused…isn’t that exactly what we pay them NOT to do?
peace
