Position should report to legislature, not minister: former child advocate

Last Updated: Thursday, October 23, 2008 | 2:41 PM ET

CBC News

A former Alberta child and youth advocate says he supports Premier Ed Stelmach's pledge to study the role of the advocate to see how the position might be made more effective.

Bob Rechner recommended the children's advocate become an officer of the legislature during his term as advocate from 1997 to 2001. Currently, the advocate reports to the minister of Children and Youth Services.

"The current arrangement gives the government a greater sense of control over the activities of the children's advocate," Rechner said Wednesday.

Rechner's concerns are shared by Alberta NDP MLA Rachel Notley, who said earlier this week that the reporting arrangement allows the government to control what information gets out to the public.

She called for changes that would have the advocate report directly to the legislature.

Rechner said having the advocate report to the minister creates a conflict of interest that doesn't exist in most other provinces.

"Government, in my experience, doesn't like to hear about problems within the system," he said. "So I think the advocate is in a very difficult position to fulfill the role with the expectations of the public and at the same time be accountable to the minister and serving at the pleasure of the minister."

Questions about to whom the advocate reports came after the Alberta NDP released quarterly reports they obtained through a freedom of information request.

The quarterly reports, unlike the publicly available annual reports, detail complaints about abuse and neglect in Alberta's child welfare system.

But Finance Minister Iris Evans, a former Children's Services minister, said Wednesday that changing the reporting relationship isn't necessary.

"Making anybody accountable through the legislature for discussion in the legislature isn't an automatic guarantee that you've got more openness and transparency," Evans said. "I just don't subscribe to that."

Rechner, however, said the children's advocate can be just like the provincial ombudsman and auditor general, two positions that are independent and don't report to a cabinet minister.