Power not money
Public Eye
Sean Holman
October 7, 2009

Last week, it was reported the provincial government would be scrapping "teams of advisors who help families with special-needs children get in touch with the right child-care workers and who give guidance to those workers." This, according to CTV's St. John Alexander. But one of them, Dana Brynelsen, has stated that decision wasn't made for fiscal reasons. Instead, it was about "power and control and the direction" of the ministry of children and family development.

In an email to colleagues, Mr. Brynelsen - the provincial advisor for British Columbia's infant development program - wrote, "I understand now that the decision to close the Provincial Offices was made over a year ago. It is very difficult to understand how we could have worked with MCFD staff for over a year without this information being shared, without consultation and opportunity to have a thorough analysis of impact."

"Our biggest challenge is that this is not about money." Instead, the decision was "about power and control and the direction of MCFD which is to devolve all power and control to the regions. I have been told that the move to decentralize is in part a move to remove standards and that for our field this will lead to increased caseloads and services which will be viewed increasingly through a child protection lens."

"As you know MCFD, under the current Deputy (Lesley du Toit), does not support family centred practice," she continued. "All MCFD documentation I have viewed through the Strong Safe and Supported work does not use that terminology. The current Deputy is from South Africa. I do not know her vision of early childhood intervention but I fear that we are heading in the direction of South Africa, which to my knowledge has never been a leader in our field."

Copy of Ms. Brynelsen's email