I am waiting to see when the actual Families First policies start taking effect.

When Christy Clark announced she was running to become leader of the BC Liberals, and by extension, the premier of BC, her campaign focus was centered on a slogan of “Families First”.

Since then as all of us are aware, Christy Clark went on the win the leadership, become Premier, and to win election as an MLA in the riding of Vancouver Point Grey.

She is now the premier … she has announced her cabinet which includes Mary McNeil as the Minister of Children and Family development … and one would think work would be well on its way on the mandate she declared most important.

Let’s look at the word of Christy Clark … Mary McNeil … and the media; then you can decide if that priority is being met.

Mary McNeil, minister of Children and Family Development;

• "Families are the foundation of this province and there is nothing more important to this government than ensuring B.C. families have the supports they need to raise healthy, successful children…”

Christy Clark, Premier of BC

• “Government can’t make it too hard for people.”

• “I really want cabinet ministers to do their jobs. I want them to work hard and I want them to fulfill their duties and I want them to be the desk where the buck stops…”

• “Our new cabinet will reflect the priorities of British Columbians and put families at the centre of all our decision-making …"

 

Special needs kids to lose out

… parents of special needs children worry that strides the district has made during the past two decades will be wiped out and, because of budget constraints, their children will be segregated into special classes ...

Jail last resort for mentally disabled man.  B.C. government has no other place to house him, court documents show
… a young man with the mental age of six has been sent to jail in Victoria because the BC government has no other place to house him, court documents show …

Improve services for special-needs children, says BC's watchdog
... representative for children and youth has given the B.C. government six months to develop a detailed strategy for serving special-needs children … it's described as a recommendation, but government ignores METL at its peril …

System failed girl left alone with mother's corpse: report
… the woman's special needs daughter was "all but invisible to service providers," Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond said in a release ...

Liberals fail children with special needs
… even those with special needs children who are most capable find it a struggle to navigate the system ...

Torment of a teen
... the deep psychological harm the girl suffered as a result of being left alone with her dead mother for more than a week, she was also found to be emaciated beyond description …

Parents of kids with special needs left to navigate system alone, says Child and Youth Rep  
… criticizing the government for leaving parents of children with special needs alone to navigate the complex array of services available to them ...

It seems to me that this government continues to have more value on confusing the public around ever increasing taxes … on raises for BC Ferries execs … raises for execs with BC Hydro subsidiary PowerEx … for Stickmen cartoons … and taking more and more from the hard-working middle class.

I am waiting to see when the actual Families First policies start taking effect.

I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops … and these are the thoughts of one conservative.