Children’s advocate calls for end to lockout at Hamilton teen jail
Province should step in to reopen Arrell Youth Centre says rights group
The Hamilton Spectator, Jun 30, 2018, by Joanna Frketich
Members of Ontario Public Service Employees Union Local 216 hold picket signs at the corner of Stone Church and Anchor Roads outside Banyan, the not-for-profit organization that runs the Arrell Youth Centre, in April. - Hamilton Spectator file photo
The Canadian Children's Rights Council is calling for an end to a labour dispute that has closed a Hamilton youth detention facility for more than two months.
No new talks are scheduled after negotiations broke down June 24 in the ongoing lockout at Arrell Youth Centre at 320 Anchor Rd. near Stone Church Road East and Dartnall Road.
The centre, which normally houses 16 young men convicted or accused of serious crimes, has been empty since the lockout began April 27. Most of the 16 teens who were moved stayed in the west region, which includes London, Guelph and Niagara. But three had to go to the east region, which stretches as far as Kingston.
"It undermines the whole idea of rehabilitation," said Grant Wilson, president of the nonprofit advocacy council. "That's a life-altering experience to go through that kind of labour disruption when you are a youth ... It's destructive to everybody."
Read More ..
Alyson Schafer is a psychotherapist and one of Canada's leading parenting
experts. She's the author of the best-selling "Breaking the Good
Mom Myth" (Wiley, 2006) and host of TV's The Parenting
Show a live call-in show in Toronto, Ontario.
The media relies on Alyson's comments and opinions. you can find her
interviewed and quoted extensively in such publications as Cosmopolitan,
Readers' Digest, Canadian Living, Today's Parents, and Canadian Families.
Payers and recipients do not have direct
access to their assigned enforcement services officer
"There is only limited access to enforcement
staff because many calls to the Office do not get through or are terminated before they
can be answered."
"The Office is reviewing and working on only
about 20% to 25% of its total cases in any
given year."
"At the end of our audit in April 2010, there
were approximately 91,000 bring-forward
notes outstanding, each of which is supposed
to trigger specific action on a case within one
month. The status of almost one-third of the
outstanding bring-forward notes was "open,"
indicating either that the notes had been
read but not acted upon, or that they had not
been read at all, meaning that the underlying
nature and urgency of the issues that led to
these notes in the first place was not known.
In addition, many of the notes were between
one and two years old."
"For ongoing cases, the Office took almost
four months from the time the case went into
arrears before taking its first enforcement
action. For newly registered cases that went
straight into arrears, the delay was seven
months from the time the court order was
issued."
Read the shocking report by The Auditor General of Ontario Report on the
Family Responsibility Office
When families fall apart, they can make for the bitterest of enemies. The intensity of their hostility, the
personal rhetoric, the posturing and positioning, and the utter faithlessness of remembrance in the relationship's
good deeds and consequences is a breathtaking phenomenon. It's as if the positive qualities and countless
achievements are struck from history as a revisionist might strike the Holocaust. Into all of this the family court
system wades, often inelegantly. Divorce lawyers drive up the emotional and financial toll of separation and
transformation. Family and friends frequently collude to make things worse.
And when government decides to rear its head, well, it's a mess for all the world to see. Witness the recent
attention on Ontario's euphemistically branded Family Responsibility Office. A job in advertising doubtlessly
greeted the person who came up with its title, because it suggests some sort of feel-good missionary work to hold
together the sanctity of the institution.
Read More ..
"Canada's national newspaper for professional women"
On June 9, 2005 the McGuinty government announced the passage of Bill 155, legislation that promised to increase
enforcement, improve fairness and enhance efficiency at the Family Responsibility Office (FRO).
However, the legislation did not address the problem of accountability and, as things now stand, the FRO is a threat to every
Canadian affected by a government regulated support and custody arrangement system. Think of George Orwell's 1984
and you'll have a good picture of how issues are handled at the FRO.
They have legal power to extort money from Canadians, but are not responsible or accountable for their actions.
Last year an FRO staff member decided not to wait for a court date to review the financial status of an out-of-work
truck driver and took it upon themselves to suspend his license because he was, understandably, behind on his
payments, having lost his job earlier in the year. Although he was looking for work, the FRO cut off the only way he
knew of to earn a living. His suicide note explained how he'd lost all hope. Is this what we want FRO to be doing?
Read More ..
Wicked mum murdered son, 8, with electrical cables after he caught her in
sex romps with his granddad
The Mirror, UK, October 19 2016
Vicious Veronica Panarello throttled her son Loris to death and abandoned
his body in a remote gully after he found out about the fling.
The "manipulative" mum, wept as she was jailed for 30 years at a court in
Italy on Monday
A wicked mum who brutally murdered her eight-year-old son after he allegedly
discovered she was having an affair with his grandfather has been jailed.
Vicious Veronica Panarello throttled her son Loris Stival with electrical
cables and abandoned his body in a remote gully after he found out about the fling.
The "manipulative" mum wept as she was jailed for 30 years at a court in
Italy on Monday.
Panarello, 28, had tried to pretend her son had been abducted to cover up
the horrendous killing in November 2014.
Panarello throttled her eight-year-old son Loris to death with
electrical cables.
Read More ..
ST. STEPHEN, N.B. - A New Brunswick judge says a woman who burned and
dismembered her newborn son is criminally responsible for her actions.
Becky Sue Morrow earlier pleaded guilty to offering an indignity to a
dead body and disposing of a newborn with the intent of concealing a delivery.
Judge David Walker ruled Friday that the 27-year-old woman may have been
suffering from a mental disorder when she delivered the baby but that that
was not the case when the baby's body was burned and its remains hidden.
It is not known if the baby was alive at the time of birth.
At a hearing last month, the court heard contrasting reports from the
two psychiatrists. One said Ms. Morrow was in a "disassociated" mental state
when the crime occurred. The other said she clearly planned her actions
and understood the consequences.
Canada's
national "Child Day"
November 20th
Canada's "Child Day" is held on November 20th each year as designated
by the Parliament of Canada in 1993.
It commemorates the United Nations adoption of two landmark documents
concerned with the human rights of all children and youths.
Read More ..
Members of Ontario Public Service Employees Union Local 216 hold picket signs at the corner of Stone Church and Anchor Roads outside Banyan, the not-for-profit organization that runs the Arrell Youth Centre, in April. - Hamilton Spectator file photo
