VICTORIA — Fierce debates over child-welfare policies and the government's deletion of potentially sensitive emails dominated the fall legislative session in British Columbia.
Politicians closed the session on Tuesday after five weeks of debate that saw the Liberals pass legislation increasing the number of ridings in the next B.C. election from 85 to 87.
Opposition New Democrat house leader Mike Farnworth said the NDP highlighted flawed child-protection policies and their tragic results.
He said the NDP focused on the government's mismanagement of information, practices that reached into the offices of cabinet ministers and Premier Christy Clark.
B.C.'s Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham released a report last month, making public the government's practice of deleting emails connected to freedom-of-information requests.
Her report also uncovered negligent record searches, failures to document searches and the wilful destruction of records in response information queries.
The issue arose when a government whistleblower said his supervisor in the Transportation Ministry deleted emails from his computer about the investigation into murdered and missing women along the so-called Highway of Tears.
"It's about ethics in government and I think that's what has really resonated with people," said Farnworth. "They know the government is supposed to keep information, and the fact it's been deleted doesn't sit well."
Clark ordered her cabinet ministers and all political staff to save their emails after Denham released her report.
The government's child-welfare policies came under attack when it was learned 18-year-old Alex Gervais fell to his death from the fourth floor of a hotel in Abbotsford.
Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, B.C.'s representative for children and youth, said it's believed the young man who was in government care committed suicide.
Children's Minister Stephanie Cadieux said the government wasn't informed the teen had been housed in a hotel months after his group home was closed.
The death prompted a joint review by Turpel-Lafond's office and the government over the placement of foster children in hotels.
Turpel-Lafond said hotel rooms do not make suitable homes for vulnerable kids in government care and should only be considered a short-term solution in emergencies.
Liberal house leader Mike de Jong said the government passed only a handful of new laws during the session, including increasing the number of legislative seats for the May 2017 election.
He said B.C.'s economy is showing signs of growth, an issue that is bound to ease concerns of many British Columbians.
"It's the last day of the session and we're talking about how B.C. outperformed and is leading the country in terms of economic growth," said de Jong. "I think that's what most British Columbians care about."
De Jong delivered a series of pay increases to unionized government workers tied to B.C.'s improved growth forecasts.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees said the 0.45 per cent increase is welcome but does little to help workers keep pace with the cost of living.
A new legislative session is scheduled to begin in February with a throne speech and a new budget.
