As an slamming Motheriskās hair analysis program, which led to an untold number of children being taken away from their parents after they failed the now-discredited drug-screening test, one father is speaking up about how the program ādestroyedā his family when it stripped them of their little girl.
āI feel I was treated wrongly and unfairly and they accused me of something that I didnāt do,ā the man, who cannot be identified because of child privacy laws, told Ā鶹“«Ć½. āAnd itās the little girl who suffers more out of all this than myself and my family.ā
According to the man, his daughter was taken to a Childrenās Aid Society (CAS) location by her mother when she was just eight-months-old. Accused of being a drug user, the man was told that he had to undergo a hair test before he could have access to his child.
āThe results came back with cocaine and crack and methamphetamines in my system,ā the man said. āI almost passed out and hit the floor when I saw the results, because it was so totally untrue. In my lifetime, I have never used any of those drugs.ā
The CAS case workers, however, stood by the now-discredited test, the man said.
āAfter a couple of months and a couple more tests, I ended up losing access rights to my daughter,ā he lamented. āShe was put up for adoption and I havenāt seen her since she was two years old.ā
Nearly six years later, the man still mourns the fact that he canāt watch his daughter grow up.
āShe doesnāt get to visit with her brothers or sisters,ā he said. āShe never got to meet her grandmother or grandfatherā¦ She never got a chance to do things with her dad.ā
The man dreams of being reunited with his little girl, but believes the chances of that happening are āslim to none.ā
āItās been so many years now, I donāt think she would know who I was anymore,ā he explained. āAnd with all the court systems and the CAS matters, I donāt feel that will ever happen.ā
Tragically, he may be right.
āThe decisions we make in child protection are often devastating and irrevocable,ā retired provincial court judge Judith Beaman, who led the independent commission into Motherisk, said on Monday. "That is why it is critical that only reliable evidence and a fair process be used in the service of making those decisions."
āThereās lots of people out there like me,ā the man added. āI hope they can somehow, someway reunite these families with their children.ā
Still, the man said that he is planning on filing a lawsuit following revelations about Motheriskās faulty drug-testing methods.
āThere is no way to put a price or a figure or anything on a child,ā he acknowledged. āSheās gone. I havenāt seen her in almost six years.ā
Nothing, he added, will ever erase the pain of losing his daughter.
āMotherisk indeed destroyed my family,ā he said. āIf they didnāt do these faulty tests or agree with the Childrenās Aid to do these faulty tests, we would still have my daughter right now and she would still be able to play and sheād be able to see her family.ā
In a statement emailed to Ā鶹“«Ć½, the blasted the independent commission into Motherisk for not consulting "disposed" parents, like the unnamed father.
āVictims did not get to participate in the commission,ā the statement said. āI donāt think the commissionās report is fair at all to the stolen children or their familiesā¦ How are we as a province and country going to prevent this from occurring again in the future without a true public inquiry?ā
With files from Ā鶹“«Ć½ā medical affairs specialist Avis Favaro and producer Elizabeth St. Philip and a report from The Canadian Press
