The chief justice of the B.C. Supreme Court, Christopher Hinkson, has slammed lawyers involved in a high-profile Ministry of Children and Families controversy for “unwarranted hyperbole.”
In a stinging rebuke, the chief justice refused to interfere with a government-ordered review of ministry policies and practices out of respect for “the separate functions of the three branches of government.”
He scolded lawyers for a mother known only as J.P. whose four children were seized by ministry workers, who then gave the father an opportunity to abuse them.
“While (B.C. Supreme Court Justice Paul Walker) has been quite critical of certain ministry employees and agents, I regard the assertion that the entire government cannot be trusted as unwarranted hyperbole,” the chief justice wrote in a ruling published Wednesday. “Counsel for the (mother and children) conceded that the contention lacked any evidentiary foundation. This scandalous submission should not have been advanced.”
