Tell Doug Ford: don't scrap critically important protection for marginalized kids in Ontario

Doug Ford just scrapped the Office of the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth, which is responsible for making sure kids in the welfare system and other institutions are protected from abuse. This will leave the most vulnerable people imaginable -- children accessing public services, children with disabilities, Indigenous children -- without independent oversight, advocacy and protection that they need. [1] This office plays an incredibly important role in the lives of young people and those who care for them in this province. It ensures that young people, and especially those living in the care of public institutions such as child welfare and youth justice, have a voice in decisions that affect their lives. The discontinuation of this office and amalgamation with the Ombudsman office will inevitably lead to its serious reduction of capacity and expertise to help young people who desperately need this support. The Ombudsman of Ontario does not have the experience, expertise and participatory methods in working with young people in the areas of child welfare, child & youth mental health and youth justice sectors. Not only do young people benefit tremendously from this Office's work, professionals across the country regularly highlight this Office's leadership role in the province and Canada.

And Ford’s doing it to fund corporate handouts. He’s claiming there's no money for it, but with millions in tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy, that’s more than a bit rich.

We can’t allow him to strip children of their rights and their safety. We saw that after massive backlash about the Ford government moving to debate whether to remove gender identity from school curriculums, he backtracked and shut it down. [2] If we show them that the majority of people in Ontario won’t tolerate these absolutely callous cuts to children’s safety with a massive petition, he could reverse again.

They could be packing up the office of Provincial Advocacy for Children and Youth any day now. Will you add your name before it’s dismantled?

[1] https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2018/11/19/eliminating-the-ontario-child-advocates-office-a-mistake.html

[2] https://toronto.citynews.ca/2018/11/19/ford-gender-identity-debate/