As an slamming Motherisk鈥檚 hair analysis program, which led to an untold number of children being taken away from their parents after they failed the now-discredited drug-screening test, one father is speaking up about how the program 鈥渄estroyed鈥� his family when it stripped them of their little girl.
鈥淚 feel I was treated wrongly and unfairly and they accused me of something that I didn鈥檛 do,鈥� the man, who cannot be identified because of child privacy laws, told 麻豆影视. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 the little girl who suffers more out of all this than myself and my family.鈥�
According to the man, his daughter was taken to a Children鈥檚 Aid Society (CAS) location by her mother when she was just eight-months-old. Accused of being a drug user, the man was told that he had to undergo a hair test before he could have access to his child.
鈥淭he results came back with cocaine and crack and methamphetamines in my system,鈥� the man said. 鈥淚 almost passed out and hit the floor when I saw the results, because it was so totally untrue. In my lifetime, I have never used any of those drugs.鈥�
The CAS case workers, however, stood by the now-discredited test, the man said.
鈥淎fter a couple of months and a couple more tests, I ended up losing access rights to my daughter,鈥� he lamented. 鈥淪he was put up for adoption and I haven鈥檛 seen her since she was two years old.鈥�
Nearly six years later, the man still mourns the fact that he can鈥檛 watch his daughter grow up.
鈥淪he doesn鈥檛 get to visit with her brothers or sisters,鈥� he said. 鈥淪he never got to meet her grandmother or grandfather鈥� She never got a chance to do things with her dad.鈥�
The man dreams of being reunited with his little girl, but believes the chances of that happening are 鈥渟lim to none.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 been so many years now, I don鈥檛 think she would know who I was anymore,鈥� he explained. 鈥淎nd with all the court systems and the CAS matters, I don鈥檛 feel that will ever happen.鈥�
Tragically, he may be right.
鈥淭he decisions we make in child protection are often devastating and irrevocable,鈥� retired provincial court judge Judith Beaman, who led the independent commission into Motherisk, said on Monday. "That is why it is critical that only reliable evidence and a fair process be used in the service of making those decisions."
鈥淭here鈥檚 lots of people out there like me,鈥� the man added. 鈥淚 hope they can somehow, someway reunite these families with their children.鈥�
Still, the man said that he is planning on filing a lawsuit following revelations about Motherisk鈥檚 faulty drug-testing methods.
鈥淭here is no way to put a price or a figure or anything on a child,鈥� he acknowledged. 鈥淪he鈥檚 gone. I haven鈥檛 seen her in almost six years.鈥�
Nothing, he added, will ever erase the pain of losing his daughter.
鈥淢otherisk indeed destroyed my family,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f they didn鈥檛 do these faulty tests or agree with the Children鈥檚 Aid to do these faulty tests, we would still have my daughter right now and she would still be able to play and she鈥檇 be able to see her family.鈥�
In a statement emailed to 麻豆影视, the blasted the independent commission into Motherisk for not consulting "disposed" parents, like the unnamed father.
鈥淰ictims did not get to participate in the commission,鈥� the statement said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think the commission鈥檚 report is fair at all to the stolen children or their families鈥� How are we as a province and country going to prevent this from occurring again in the future without a true public inquiry?鈥�
With files from 麻豆影视鈥� medical affairs specialist Avis Favaro and producer Elizabeth St. Philip and a report from The Canadian Press
