The Child Sex Trade Flourishes in Vancouver

Grandview Pimps
May, 30 2005 - 4:10 PM

VANCOUVER(CKNW/AM980) - Vancouver Police
are again warning parents to better communicate
with their daughters --to keep them from getting
lured into the sex trade.

Constable Tim Fanning is responding to a warning
about First Nations girls as young as ten being recruited
by pimps outside Grandview Elementary.

"Parents are the first educators, so everybody has to
be involved. you know, it takes a community to raise a
child --whether you live in the West side of Vancouver,
the East side of Vancouver-- anywhere in the city--
we go back to what we just talked about which is you've
got to educate your kids."

Fanning says the girls most likely to fall into this trap
are those with low self-esteem and trouble at home.
*************************************************
Pimp problem at elementary school
May, 30 2005 - 3:00 PM

VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980) - It's not news to them.
That's how Vancouver Police are responding to a warning

Constable Tim Fanning says school liaison officers are
doing their best to protect vulnerable children.

"We have a program in place --that we work with the
schools. If they have any sort of problems, we are all
over it. If there's a specific incident, we investigate it.
Anytime we're given the information, we act on it."

The principal at Grandview Elementary says drug
traffickers and sex-trade recruiters are bold enough
to come right onto school property.

Fanning admits those pimps often trick the girls by
pretending to be their boyfriends.
***********************************************
Commentary:

Have the police lost their minds? This deplorable
attitude is why 67 women, mostly First Nations women,
have gone missing from Vancouver and an estimated
500 First Nations women are missing from across
Canada. Placing the onus onto parents to "communicate'
with their children" is absolute classist and racist crap.
You tell me if pimps were circling the privileged little
white children of the upper, or middle class on the Westside
whether this kind of classist, dangerous nonsense would
be the response from the police?

This "blame the victim" mentality is shocking and what
I want to know is how many of these recruiters and pimps
have been arrested, charged & convicted? Last I heard
sexual abuse and exploitation of children were indictable
offenses under the Criminal Code. Last I knew, children
deserved the right to go to school without having to run a
gauntlet of people waiting to sexually exploit them openly,
with police issuing bulletins, instead of doing their jobs to
stop these parasites.

I believe that school liaison officers probably are trying
to do the best they can, but the problems are embedded
in the Vancouver police department and society frankly.
First Nations girls and women across Canada are the
most marginalized citizens in this country. And this kind
of statement by the police contributes to the fact that
First Nations women are treated as though they are not
deserving of the protections other citizens receive and
in fact that they can be abused in any way from cradle
to grave. Many First Nations women don't even enjoy
the same rights as other women such as matrimonial
rights to property. When is this city and province going
to move away from our racist and classist treatment of
First Nations girls and women? Who is going to take
leadership on this issue and challenge the authorities,
such as the VPD, to provide the same rights to First
Nations girls and women in this city and province?

Something that also hasn't been mentioned in this
discussion is that other young women and men are
used as recruiters by adult pimps. This is done for
different reasons. Adults know that the watered down
Youth Criminal Justice Act and the authorities are not
particularly inclined to enforce too many breaches of
the Criminal Code, or even if they do, young people
will get away with that proverbial slap on the wrist,
in the guise of diversion. Youth know it too and some
of them are taking full advantage, because they know
there are no consequences to their behaviour. Adults
also use girls to befriend and recruit other girls into the
sex trade. They pick girls who themselves are vulnerable
and who may have been victimized, make them feel
special, give them drugs & alcohol, buy them some pretty
stuff (clothes, jewelry and other things) and then it's
pay back time. These girls in turn groom other girls
into the sex trade. And children are valued by pedophiles,
because they believe they are "clean" from disease and
they will pay more for that and unprotected rape (that is
what it is) of these children.

The fact that Vancouver has an open, thriving and
internationally known sex trade in children, filled with
First Nations girls, says to me that no-one in authority
cares enough to seriously tackle this problem. I have
worked with these girls and women, they need our love,
our care, our support to exit this shadow world of pain,
addiction, abuse and death. The younger they are when
they are introduced into the sex trade and the street life,
the earlier they are addicted, the earlier they develop
HIV, Hepatitis B & C, the earlier they die. They also have
babies, continuing the cycle of government care, broken
attachments, cognitive/intellectual issues and marginal-
ization through government intervention. Even if they
want to escape the life, the shame, humiliation and
guilt of the life they have been forced to lead leaves them
outside the margins of the mainstream, standing at the
window looking in, but lacking the skills and knowledge
how to be on the other side of the glass. We are the ones
who should feel shame, guilt and humiliation for the fact
that every day in Vancouver we are sitting by while children
are being raped and destroyed on our streets.
*****************************************************
Sex trade a 'reality' say experts
By Irwin Loy, 24 hours

Sex-trade recruitment is a reality at schools in all areas
of the city, says a support agency for sex-trade workers.
"Recruiting is happening in every school," said Kyla Kaun
of PEERS Vancouver. "We need to realize this is really
happening. Children are being targeted by predators to
get into sex work."

Kaun's comments come after the principal of East Van's
Grandview elementary last week told Vancouver city
council children in Grades 6 and 7 were constantly
targeted by sex-trade recruiters. Kaun says the average
age for entering prostitution is only 12 - and it's not just
restricted to lower-income neighbourhoods.

"Predators have absolutely no respect for social class.
It has nothing to do with poverty," Kaun said, adding
both parents and their kids need to get educated.

Former Child Care Worker get 4 and a half years for child abuse

Cathy Matteau gets 5 years

Montreal Gazette, (May 26, 2005).

MONTREAL --A woman found guilty of severely
beating two infants in her care was sentenced on
Thursday to 4.5 years in jail on aggravated assault
charges.

Cathy Matteau, who's in her mid-20s, has been in
jail since Feb. 23 when she was found guilty of
aggravated assault on the two baby girls in 2003.
The infants were seven months and 10 months old,
respectively.

The first infant suffered a skull fracture, six crushed
vertebrae and symptoms of shaken baby syndrome.
The baby is likely to suffer permanent damage from
the assault at the at-home day care Matteau operated.

The second baby suffered two cranial fractures but
is likely to escape permanent damage.

Matteau's lawyer had argued that a maximum
sentence of three years for the former child-care
worker should be sufficient.

© Canadian Press 2005
********************************************
Commentary:

I think the public would be amazed and horrified
at how many people who have histories of abuse
and neglect of their own children can work in child care
with other people's children. I'm not saying this is
the case with the woman who has been convicted,
but it put me in mind of this. I have had many women
I have worked with tell me they were going to
school to become child care workers, many time before
they had resolved their own parenting issues in their
own family. Even though people have to usually at least
have a criminal record check, privacy laws would protect
child protection authorities from disclosing whether
someone has a history with child protection
involvement. It's also so scary how many people
are operating child care out of their homes with
no licenses, no oversight, or awareness of what
their backgrounds might be. As a parent, it is
so difficult to find affordable, high-quality child
care. I hope BC gets on board with the Feds
quick for the $5 billion child care funding, before we
head to the polls again. BC's kids and families need
and deserve a much, much better child care system
than we currently have.
**********************************************
Educational Reform Must Include Transparency
and Competition
By Nancy Salvato, (Wednesday, May 25, 2005).
Canada Free Press.

While it was somewhat surprising to read that preschoolers
are being suspended from school at alarming rates, that
teachers were having great difficulty managing these young
children did not catch me unawares. For all the media
coverage given to funding and accountability in the public
school system, in general very little attention is paid to
early childhood education. Private preschool centers are
forced to hire the least qualified to instruct those under
their care for the simple reason that they cannot afford
to properly compensate their teachers.

Head Start is one of the only early childhood programs
that requires education certification of instructors and
compensates at the level of other professional teachers.
Yet the one oasis where professional instructors are given
care of our youngest children has suffered from serious
financial abuse and irregularities. Lobbying from the
Head Start community has impeded "greater transparency
in the program" which would "enable the public and the
media to more closely examine the ways in which federal
Head Start funds are being spent" according to John
Boehner, Chairman of the Committee on Education and
the Workforce.

How many men are charged for giving HIV to Women?

HIV-positive mom charged

HAMILTON (CP) - Police have arrested and
charged an HIV-positive mother who allegedly
failed to alert hospital staff to her condition
during childbirth so they could protect the
newborn from infection.

The mother faces one count each of failing to
provide the necessaries of life and criminal
negligence causing bodily harm. The baby has
tested positive for HIV.

Hospital staff who met with the pregnant woman
in early 2004 recommended the newborn baby
be given the drug AZT and secured an agreement
that the mother would not breastfeed her child,
police said.

But the accused stopped taking her medication
during the pregnancy and delivered the baby at a
different hospital, where she denied having had
any prenatal care. Police said that when she was
specifically asked about her medical history,
she denied her HIV status.

The mother was diagnosed as HIV positive prior
to the birth of her first child in 2003. She followed
medical advice to ensure the safe delivery of that
child, who does not have HIV.

Both children are in the care of the Catholic
Children's Aid Society.
*********************************************
Commentary:

I really don't know what these people are thinking.
It seems like a very poor decision to charge this
woman criminally. Perhaps they might think about
getting her some assistance and support instead.
What was the child welfare system doing while this
situation was going on? Was she offered high-quality
pre-natal care and support? Were she and the other
child being monitored and supported by the child
welfare system?

I have worked with women in these types of situations
and generally their families, community and society have
failed them in the first place. To me this condemnation,
punishment and criminalization will not help address the
marginalization, fear and pain this woman, and many
like her experience, at the hands of those in authority.
Yes, her children deserve intervention, safety and
protection, but this mother also deserves compassion,
support and care. This just smacks of sexism, classism
and continuing victimization by the state. I hope the
Crown sees this and acts in her best interests.

Child's Death Report Not Released

NDP MLA Nicholas Simons says he filed his report
on Sherry Charlie in March 2004
By Nicholas Read, (May 27, 2005). Vancouver Sun, p. B5.

Port Alberni. The author of a report into the violent death
of 19-month-old Sherry Charlie in September 2002
wants to know why that report hasn't been made public by
the provincial ministry of family and children develop-
ment.
Nicholas Simons, newly-elected NDP MLA for Powell-
River Sunshine Coast, was commissioned by the ministry
to investigate the events that led to the death of Sherry
at the hands of her foster father, Ryan Dexter George, in
Port Alberni.
George, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter and rec-
ieved a 10-year prison sentence for killing the girl, had a
lengthy criminal record and was on probation for spousal
assault when Sherry was put into his care.
Simons, a former independent social work consultant,
filed the final draft of his report into the death to the
ministry in March 2004. Two weeks ago, the ministry
sent him it's version of the full final report, a draft preci
and a summary version. He was told then that all three
were awaiting signing by deputy minister and director
of child protection Jeremy Berland.
As of Tuesday, however, the report still hadn't been
made public, and Simons would like to know why.
"That's a fair question," he said in an interview. "It's
a fair question that should be asked loudly."
Simons says until the report is released, he isn't at
liberty to discuss its contents. But he added that without
attaching blame to anyone, it does contain information
that could be helpful to social workers and the ministry
in the future - information that could help a similar
tragedy occurring again.
"To me, it's about the best practices in child welfare,"
Simons said. "Should social workers know what will help
improve that practice and protect children? Should that
information be released? You tell me."
Ministry spokeswoman Kate Thompson, said she
couldn't say when the report would be published. "We
don't have an exact time frame for it. We want to make
sure everything's dealt with."
But she rejected any suggestion that its release was
being deliberately slowed.
When you're dealing with matters like these, it can
take weeks and months to conclude everything that
needs to be done, not just days."
But Simons said he believed that if the now disband-
ed children's commission were still operating, the report
would have been released long ago.
"Whether or not the children's commission would
have changed things, I can't say, but they would have
had a report by now," he said.
Established in 1997 in response to public outrage
over the beating death of Matthew Vaudreuil after a
lifetime of neglect, it was the commission's responsib-
ility to investigate deaths such as Charlie's and to
measure ministry performance in looking after child-
ren like her. In June 2002, the year the B.C. Liberals
abolished the commission for economic reasons, it
found that the ministry had acceptable plans for only
half the 9,700 children in its care.
In January 2003 the Liberals shifted responsib-
ility for investigating deaths such as Charlie's to the
provincial coroner's service, but on Tuesday they
said the case was "still open."
***********************************************
B.C. man sentenced in foster-child death
Globe and Mail. Wednesday, October 6, 2004,
Page A8

Port Alberni -- A man who killed his two-year-old
foster daughter has been sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Ryan George, 32, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter
in the death of Sherry Charlie in 2002.
***********************************************
Responsibility for children is a big commitment,
says Paul Willcocks. The mishandling of a ministry
By Paul Willcocks, (April 7, 2005).

VICTORIA - The Gove Inquiry, looking at the horrific death of a
little boy who should have been saved, was clear.
"Death and serious injury reviews should proceed promptly . . ."
The Liberals and the NDP both supported Judge Thomas Gove's
recommendations for children and families' reform.
***********************************************
2005 Legislative Session: 6th Session, 37th
Parliament HANSARD. (Wednesday, March 9th,
2005).

Oral Questions: INVESTIGATION OF CHILD DEATHS
AND INJURIES, (page 12397).

Hon. S. Hagen: I can assure the House and all British
Columbians that children in care continue to be safe.
We have not experienced a rise in child-in-care-related
fatalities. Every fatality of a child in care is thoroughly
investigated with accompanying recommendations. I'm
confident we are well served by the coroner's office,
the child and youth officer and the ombudsman, in
addition to the work done by our ministry to track
significant cases and review practices.

J. MacPhail: By the minister's own information,
the number of fatalities of children in care rose from
the last year reported from the previous year. They
rose by 33 percent. So I don't know what the minister
was just doing to this House when he made that statement.

We're not just talking about children in care here.
As the former children's commissioner said yesterday,
measuring success by the number of children in care tells
us nothing about whether kids are safer. All it tells us is
that there are fewer children in care. Why? Because the
province now has no way of independently investigating
the deaths and injuries of children.

Again to the minister: the coroner, by admission,
doesn't have the teeth to investigate the deaths of children.
If the government's child advocate doesn't have that power,
then how can this minister have any confidence that he is
telling the facts that fewer children in care improves the
safety of at-risk kids? What evidence does he have of that?

Doug Walls will be tried on fraud charges

Walls to be tried by judge alone
May, 26 2005 - 8:00 AM

VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980) - Former BC Liberal Party
Riding Association President Doug Walls has chosen to be
tried on fraud charges by a judge alone.

The case deals with a money shuffling scheme perpetrated
as a car dealership Walls was co-owner of sank into bankruptcy.

A preliminary hearing won't be held until January of next year.

Walls also worked as a consultant for the Children and Families
Ministry. An audit that included a review of the ministry's dealings
with him found evidence of bad financial management but no sign
of fraud.

The audit led to the resignation of cabinet minister Gordon Hogg
and the firing of his deputy.

Homelessness in the GVRD

Executive Summary.

Research Project on Homelessness in Greater Vancouver.
July, 2002. Greater Vancouver Regional District.
*****************************************************
Growing Homelessness in Greater Vancouver,
(May, 2005). Columbia Journal
CPPNews - Recent research commissioned by the Greater
Vancouver Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness
shows that rates of homelessness are increasing in the region
and the number of households living at risk of homelessness
in the region remains high.

Preliminary figures from the homeless count on March 15th
reveal that the number of homeless people in Greater Vancouver
has increased by over 100% since the homeless count in 2002. "
This doubling of the number of homeless counted on March 15th,
2005 reflects both an actual increase in the number of homeless
people in Greater Vancouver and improvements in the ability for
the volunteers to find the homeless" said Michael Goldberg, Research
Director at SPARC BC and coordinator of the 2005 Homeless Count.
The preliminary figures show that 2,112 homeless people were
counted during this year’s count compared to 1,049 in 2002. "
The increase in the number of homeless people, and especially
street homeless, is of great concern to all of us," said Bernie
Whiteford, Chair of the Aboriginal Homelessness Steering
Committee.

Recent research based on data from the last Census indicates that
over 126,000 people in over 56,000 households are at risk of home-
lessness in Greater Vancouver. At-risk households and the people
who live in them are highly vulnerable to losing their housing. The
data is based on the 2001 Census of Canada and provides the most
up-to-date information currently available on the at-risk population.
This data will be updated following the completion of the 2006 Census.

"While the rate of households at risk of homelessness has not
changed much from 1996 to 2001, we must remember that
there was little volatility in the cost of housing during that time"
said Daniel Garrison, Senior Planner at the GVRD Homelessness
Unit. "Given the rapid increase in housing prices over the last few
years, one could expect that the rate of risk of homelessness will
increase".

“This new research information will be quite helpful in planning
and developing strategies to prevent homelessness in the region,
said Cheryl Prepchuk, chair of the Regional Steering Committee on
Homelessness. The Greater Vancouver Regional Steering Committee
on Homelessness (RSCH) is composed of people and organizations
operating and funding facilities, services or programs targeted to
people who are homeless or at-risk of homelessness in the region.
The Aboriginal Homeless Steering Committee is composed of people
from aboriginal organizations serving the homeless population.
Both are dedicated to working with communities in developing
solutions to homelessness in Greater Vancouver.
**********************************************************
Draft Housing Plan for the Downtown Eastside.
Report to Vancouver City Council, May 6, 2005.
**********************************************************
The Homelessness Research Virtual Library.
University of British Columbia.

Parental Supervision: Responsibility and Accountability

It's simple, parents, supervise your kids
By TOM BRODBECK -- Winnipeg Sun
Wed, May 25, 2005

After we all get over the horror and shock of a group
of young kids lighting a 10-year-old boy on fire in
Winnipeg's North End over the weekend, maybe
we can start talking about adult supervision.

Because that's what this story is really about.

I know a lot of people want to pin this ghastly act on the
"mean streets" of the North End, poverty, a lack of community
centres or lax youth criminal justice laws.

But that's the dummy version of the story.

Poor kids, their parents are low-income. If they only had more
money and a community centre that was open at 10:30 on a
Saturday night, these kids wouldn't be out on the street with the
scumbags, the muggers and the pimps. Or so the story goes.

I know it makes for good news copy, but it's pablum.

These are red herrings -- excuses people use to explain
irresponsible parenting. It's easier to blame something
institutional than to take responsibility for your own actions.

I'm not going to hurl blame at any specific parent in this calamity.
There's a child in the hospital who sustained some pretty bad
burns and I'm sure his parents feel awful about it. As a parent,
my heart goes out to them.

It's a horrible thing that happened.

But when I read that kids as young as nine were out on the
street after 10:30 p.m. without their parents and without any
adult supervision, my stomach sank.

What the hell are elementary school children doing walking the
streets late at night in the dark by themselves?

And where on Earth are their parents?

What is this, the Lord of the Flies of the North End where kids
just walk around playing with fire and fending for themselves?

Since Kasey Richard was allegedly lit on fire by a group of kids
age 11 to 14, people have been asking how this can happen.

It's not that complicated. It happens when you don't supervise
your kids.

It happens when children young enough to have favourite stuffed
animals to cuddle are left to explore and experiment on dark
streets alone without adult supervision.

They're kids. Young kids. Some of the children in this story
aren't even in middle school yet, for goodness sakes.

We live in a society where people automatically think there's
some kind of government system in place to look after their kids.

We want cheap, government child care for all.

We want public schools to raise our children.

We want police to protect our kids while they're walking the
streets.

We want tougher laws and maybe bylaws to prevent kids from
buying lighter fluid.

But you know what, if you're going to let your young children
walk around with their friends late at night without adult supervision
-- without even knowing where they are -- they will be vulnerable to
harm. You're putting your kids at risk.

No laws, police presence or community centres are going to
change that.

Step up to the plate, parents. Look out for your children. Teach them.
Supervise them. Discipline them. Know where they are. Because
they need you. They desperately need you. They want you to care
where they are at 10:30 p.m.

Without you, they don't have a chance.

Revised Homeless Action Plan

To: Vancouver City Council

From: Director of Housing Centre in consultation
with the Director of Social Planning.

Subject: Revised Homeless Action Plan

Priorities & Recommendations:

1. Reducing barriers to access to welfare for the homeless.
2. Developing 3200 units of supportive housing.
3. Increasing mental health and addictions services.

Homeless Action Plan report - April 26, 2005

**Special Vancouver City hall meeting and submissions
by the public and interested parties on May 25th, 2005
@ 7pm. **