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No ID ban for social workers

Bid denied for Phoenix inquiry

By: Gabrielle Giroday

Friday, Jul. 13, 2012 at 8:07 AM | Comments: 0

Phoenix Sinclair

Lawyers for groups who wanted to keep social workers' identities secret at an upcoming high-profile public inquiry will not appeal a ruling that rejected a publication-ban request.

In a ruling delivered in written form Thursday, inquiry commissioner Ted Hughes said there will be no ban on audio or video of social workers' testimony at an upcoming inquiry looking into the death of slain five-year-old Phoenix Sinclair.

The 57-page decision was filed after days of arguments by lawyers representing several media outlets, aboriginal groups, social workers' unions and the child's foster mother both for and against the ban.

"A public inquiry is meant to educate and inform the public and it follows that permitting broadcasting of the inquiry proceedings would serve to fulfil that aspect of the inquiry's mandate," wrote Hughes. "Were I to restrict audio and video recording and broadcasting of the social workers' testimony in this inquiry, the result would be an inequality among members of the public in access to information about the proceedings."

Kim Edwards, Phoenix's former foster mother, who was against a publication ban, was emotional after the ruling, hugging supporters.

The inquiry was set up to look at the circumstances around Phoenix's murder in June 2005, three months after her child welfare file was closed. She was living with her mother, Samantha Kematch, and stepfather, Karl McKay, at the time of her death.

While staying with Kematch and McKay, Phoenix was frequently confined, assaulted and neglected. She died after a brutal assault in the basement of the family's home on the Fisher River First Nation and her body was found several months later in the community's landfill.

Kematch and McKay were convicted of first-degree murder.

Garth Smorang, the lawyer representing the provincial social workers' union, the Manitoba Government and General Employees Union (MGEU), said there will be no appeal of Thursday's decision, but safety concerns for social workers persist.

"The concerns we raised remain," he said. "We talked about personal risk, we talked about privacy risks, and we talked about risks to the system in which the vast majority of these people still work. Those are all the concerns we've had and continue to have."

In the decision, Hughes said "There has been no direct evidence from any of the applicants that would make the necessary link between identifying social workers in the media and increased risks to their personal safety.

"The case law indicates that there would need to be much stronger and more direct evidence of risks to personal safety than what has been filed in order to justify a publication ban on that basis," wrote Hughes.

"There is evidence filed by the applicants which speaks generally to social workers being concerned about their safety, but there is no evidence of specific incidents or statistics pointing to an increased risk to safety as a result of publicity. The nature of the evidence that has been offered is that some families have referenced the Phoenix Sinclair tragedy to some social workers in the course of their dealings with those families. No direct evidence was offered by any individual social worker being called to testify in this inquiry as to his or her personal circumstances."

The ruling does not mean everyone participating in the hearing will be identified.

In his ruling, Hughes said there are seven informants involved in the case who are currently covered by a publication ban.

Sherri Walsh, commission counsel, said hearings involving them will likely be held in camera, and the witness may provide testimony through video conferencing. Hughes will likely be able to see the witness, she said, and everyone else in the room will likely be able to hear the person speak but not see them. gabrielle.giroday@freepress.mb.ca

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