'Why did it take so long?' Opposition MLAs question review of Yukon group homes

Opposition MLAs say they're glad the Yukon government has appointed an external, independent investigator to look into government-run youth group homes.

But both the Yukon Party and the NDP are asking why Social Services Minister Pauline Frost waited so long.

On Wednesday, Frost announced she had hired a B.C. labour lawyer to do a "deep review" of the policies, practices and staffing of group homes back to 2015. The move follows damning allegations in recent months about how youth have been treated at the facilities.

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The government's decision this week to call the review has perplexed both opposition parties, who note that the NDP tabled a motion during the recent spring sitting, calling on the government to do just that.

Yukon Party leader Stacey Hassard says it's simply more evidence that the Liberals have difficulty making decisions.

"The Liberal government used their majority to vote that motion down, and it was very disturbing for us and for the NDP because we thought this was a step in the right direction. The government chose to vote it down and insist that there was nothing wrong," Hassard said.

"The fact is that the minister has known about this for nearly three months now, and we've seen very little action taken. The only time we see any action is when CBC starts to dig into this and come up with more evidence of wrongdoing."

NDP social services critic Kate White also faults the government for waiting so long to act.

"I wish they had taken us more seriously when we brought the motion forward, because it was about the importance of making sure there was oversight — and that it can't be done internally, it has to be done externally," she said.

"We got told everything was fine — the system was fine, and what they were doing was going to work. But what's different between six weeks ago and now? Why did it take so long to make the decision to act?"

A government spokesperson has told CBC the results of the external review will not be made public

'Not making the hard decisions'

Hassard also suggests that someone in government should probably be fired, for misleading officials who claimed last month that youth would never be turned away from group homes.

"Unfortunately, it is one more decision that this government needs to make, and we see them continuously going around and around in circles and not making the hard decisions," Hassard said.

Frost has since suggested those officials may have been "misinformed".

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White says the abrupt about-face points to deeper problems in government. 

"It's just really highlighted the disconnect between what they say the policy is, and what's happening on the ground," she said. 

She says it's disturbing that children who have asked to be taken into care have been turned away.

"They're asking for the safety, they're asking for the security, to get the help that they need. And then government says 'no' because it's too high of a risk? The liability is too big? The risk of failure is there?" White said.

"That should disappoint anyone, that government wouldn't have the courage to do what was right. And that would be to take any young person into care, no matter what the challenges."