Minister Bloy dismisses CL concerns
Opposition MLAs questioned Minister Harry Bloy on the BC Community Living Action Group report in Question Period today, as the Legislature resumed sitting.In responding, Minister Bloy demonstrated a deeply troubling lack of understanding of community living, with a number of statements that were factually incorrect, misleading and shockingly insensitive.
BC CLAG wrote to Minister Bloy six weeks ago asking to meet with him to discuss issues and concerns in community living. He has not yet acknowledged or responded to that request. Had Minister Bloy demonstrated some interest in listening to families, self-advocates and community groups, he might not be so shockingly ignorant of the issues and challenges that fall within his responsibility for community living.
Below are some of the false or misleading statements made to the Legislature today:
Minister Bloy stated:
"CLBC has a budget of well over $700 million a year."
"In fact, we have increased our budget every year."
FACT: According to CLBC's Service Plan CLBC's budget is less than $700 million a year. CLBC's Operating Budget has been frozen at $681 million since 2010 and the Provincial budget calls for it to be frozen at that level until 2014. Between 2002 and 2004, the community living budget was cut by 12%.
Minister Bloy stated:
"Self-advocates continue to express their support of the redesign and changes that we've done within this ministry."
"No one has ever been removed from a group home in the province of British Columbia without their explicit choice."
If Minister Bloy genuinely believes that, he has not been doing his job!
FACTS: The BC Coalition of People with Disabilities wrote directly to the Minister last fall expressing concern about forced moves. BCCPD is a partner, along with all the other major partner groups in community living, in the BC CLAG report , which was submitted to Minister Bloy and Premier Clark yesterday, raising serious concerns about service redesign and documenting cases where residents have been forcibly moved from group homes. Numerous media reports over the past year have documented case after case where people have been forcibly removed from group homes.
Minister Bloy's responses today seriously challenge Premier Christy Clark's claims that her leadership reflects real change whithin the BC government. Not only did Bloy callously dismiss the concerns and advice of families and self-advocates, but he seriously misled our elected representatives in the Legislature with his responses.
The Opposition BC NDP Caucus immediately issued a media statement denouncing the minister's responses and drawing attention to the issues and proposed solutions in the BC Community Action Group report, which was the product of broad community dialogue and which has been endorsed by all the major partner groups in community living.
If Premier Clark is serious about her promises of change, she needs to make it clear to families that Minister Bloy's responses were totally unacceptable.