VICTORIA — A well-respected former senior civil servant has agreed to lead an independent review into the botched handling of a child welfare case where a mother's warnings ignored and her children were returned to an abusive father.
Minister of Children and Family Development Stephanie Cadieux says Bob Plecas will submit his review to her by Oct. 13, 2015, and the document will be released to the public a week later.
Cadieux says Plecas will work with the Child Welfare League of Canada, which will offer technical expertise and recommend qualified individuals, policy experts and a legal adviser to assist with the final report.
The minister says the review will not retry the case, which surfaced from a scathing B.C. Supreme Court ruling that said the ministry showed "reckless disregard'' when its social workers falsely accused a mother of being mentally ill and removed four children from her care in 2009.
The judgement found the ministry failed to investigate the youngsters' claims that their father had sexually abused them and knowingly violated a court order banning unsupervised visits.
Cadieux says any supervisory staff linked to the case will be reassigned while the review is underway and a human resources review will only be conducted if Plecas finds significant concerns with their actions.
