9/23 Guardian Ad Litem - Section 37

Guardian Ad Litem - Section 37 (3)

“Upon the application of a party or on its own motion, the court may, at any stage of a proceeding, order that a Guardian ad litem be appointed for a child who is the subject of the proceeding and , where the child is not a party to the proceeding, that the child be made a party to the proceeding, if the court determines that such a guardian is desirable to protect the child’s interests and, where the child is 12 years of age or more, that the child is not capable of instructing counsel.”

Comments and Recommendations :

• First of all, there is nothing in the act that specifies what the guardian ad litem is suppose to do. In Section 3(1), where the definitions and meanings of titles and phrases are clarified, “guardian ad litem” is not included.

• “the court may . . . order that a Guardian ad litem be appointed for a child . . . if the court determines that . . . the child is not capable of instructing counsel” - that means they are deemed not capable to have their own independent lawyer. Well, obviously, the courts here in Nova Scotia automatically assume all our children are incapable because Guardian ad litems are automatically assigned to all children without going through any process to determine they are not capable. Here in Nova Scotia, we have never found any children who have been able to have their own lawyers.

• Did you know that in June of 2005, four senators from the Human Rights Committee- Children’s Section, Senator A. Raynell Andreychuk , Senator Mercer, Senator Pearson, and Senator Oliver came to Halifax to gather information from the Children’s Aid Societies/Family and Children Services Agencies/ Department of Community Services to take to the UN (United Nations ) concerning how well we were doing concerning the rights of children in the “care“ of the state. Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights :Issue 19: Evidence June 16, 2005 - http://www.parl.gc.ca/38/1/parlbus/commbus/senate/Com-e/huma-e/19evb-e.htm?Language=E&Parl=38&Ses=1&comm_id=77 These senators were deliberately mislead into believing that we actually allowed children 12 and over to have their own legal counsel . In reply, the Senators suggested that they felt children 8 years and older were capable of having their own legal counsel! Perhaps the judges/justices and the senators need to talk.

• Parents of children who have been apprehended are told that they are not allowed to discuss the case or the court proceedings with their children, even when the children are 12 years of age or older. However, when information IS shared between parents and children, it is learned that children are being told that the job of the guardian ad litem is to bring to the court the wishes and concerns of the children. However, parents, who have talked with their children about the requests they made to their guardian ad litems , attest that these requests are NOT being brought to the courts, as the children were led to believe. Is it any wonder that the parents and children are not suppose to talk about court proceedings- If they don‘t speak to each other, they are both left in the dark, ignorant of the lies, deceit, and the manipulation.

• If the guardian ad litems are suppose to bring to the court the wishes and concerns of the child, there is no reliable independent mechanism for children to verify that their wishes and concerns are indeed being brought to the court.

• When parents request a description of the guardian ad litem’s job, they are not being given a reply

• There needs to be a clear description of the job of the guardian ad litem. There also needs to be a clear distancing of the guardian ad litems from Children’s Aid Societies/Family and Children Services Agencies/ Department of Community Services . Presently, they work as an extension of the government departments and agencies. This is clearly demonstrated during case conferences when it is obvious that all the parties, except the families, have already met and are all on the same page - united against the family.

• It is interesting to note that guardian ad litems always have a lawyer present to protect their interests, but who is protecting the interest of the child in this relationship?.