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Phoenix inquiry cleared to resume

Full witness transcripts not required, court rules

By: Carol Sanders

Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012 at 8:04 AM | Comments: 0

The inquiry into the death of Phoenix Sinclair is expected to resume in a few weeks. (HANDOUT PHOTO)

An inquiry into the death of a five-year-old girl in care can resume now that another legal battle stalling the proceedings has ended.

Manitoba's Court of Appeal ruled Monday witness interview transcripts do not have to be fully disclosed to all the parties and interveners involved in the Phoenix Sinclair inquiry.

"We're very happy with the decision because it allows us to get back to the public hearing as soon as possible," said commission counsel Sherri Walsh.

The inquiry is expected to resume in a few weeks. No date has been set.

Three days after it began Sept. 5, the court halted the inquiry into Phoenix's death to hear arguments over whether witness interviews should be fully disclosed. Several child welfare authorities fought the decision by inquiry commissioner Ted Hughes to give them only summaries of the commission's pre-inquiry interviews with the 140 or so witnesses who are to testify. They asked the Appeal Court to grant them the full transcripts.

The wide-ranging public inquiry has already pre-interviewed 154 potential witnesses. Nearly 46,000 pages of material have been reviewed line by line to delete confidential information and be disclosed, the Appeal Court said.

The transcripts in dispute made up another 85 interviews and 11,000 pages. If disclosed, they would have to be reviewed line by line to delete confidential information before they could be released, the court said in its decision. It ruled the full witness interview transcripts do not have to be disclosed.

Now the inquiry can get back to work, said Walsh.

The inquiry has been examining how Phoenix fell through the cracks of the province's child welfare system. She was beaten to death in 2005 by her mother and her mother's boyfriend, months after child welfare workers removed her from a foster home and gave her back to her family.

The inquiry has already been delayed by challenges from the union representing Manitoba social workers. It went to court to try to limit the inquiry from finding fault and lost. It lost another court battle to grant anonymity to social workers who testify.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

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