A government committee backed down yesterday after a public growling match with the province's independent children's watchdog over how much money is needed to protect vulnerable children.
After rejecting a request earlier this month for a 36-per-cent budget increase for the office of the Representative for Children and Youth, the all-party finance committee convened a second meeting and voted unanimously to grant the full amount - $1.7 million.
Children's Representative Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond attended the second meeting and answered questions similar to the ones she fielded Dec. 6.
Outside of the hearing room, she said she had one Christmas wish for the committee: "I'm hoping for more Santa and less Scrooge after this meeting."
Committee chairman Bill Bennett said the committee's original decision to deny the full funding request had nothing to do with politics and everything with ensuring accountability.
Mr. Bennett, from the governing Liberals, said the second meeting provided committee members with the comfort needed to approve the full funding request.
"I genuinely believe that the purpose of this committee is to make sure that expenditure of public money is prudent and responsible," he said.
"Some committee members, not all committee members, had questions that they didn't feel were answered in the first meeting."
Mr. Bennett said he believed there was new information provided yesterday that "was enough to get to a unanimous decision by the committee."
New Democrat Bob Simpson said he didn't hear anything new from Ms. Turpel-Lafond that he didn't hear at the first committee meeting.
Liberal member Randy Hawes told Ms. Turpel-Lafond that his wife had a discussion with him about politics after the first committee meeting.
Mr. Hawes and Mr. Bennett were singled out for harsh public criticism with the words "nitwits," and "oafs" being used in the media.
Ms. Turpel-Lafond was appointed last year by the government after former judge Ted Hughes completed an independent review of the province's child welfare system.
Judge Hughes made more than 60 recommendations after he concluded British Columbia's child-protection system had been stretched beyond its limit.
He called for the appointment of the independent children and youth representative to advocate on behalf of children and report to an all-party committee.
Last month, Ms. Turpel-Lafond said the Children and Family Development Ministry appeared not to be trying hard enough to implement Judge Hughes's recommendations even though the government promised to do so in April of 2006.
The Hughes review was called after the government admitted it had mismanaged and under-funded child protection in British Columbia.
Two scandals highlighted the mismanagement problems facing the government when it came to child protection.
Boxes containing more than 700 incomplete files on child deaths were found in a Victoria warehouse, and Port Alberni toddler Sherry Charlie was placed in the home of a relative with a past criminal record for violence.
Sherry was 18 months old when she was beaten to death by her uncle Ryan George, who later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Mr. Bennett said the finance committee may have had process questions in its earlier meeting, but ultimately "does anybody really want to take a chance [with children]over $700,000?"