Rapid response far from timely

RESPONSIVE or knee-jerk? Flexible or prone to waffling? Whenever government addresses a problem, journalists struggle to find the right words.

Government often frames its action plans as highly organized attacks. But it's a very fine line between rapid reaction to solve a problem, and rapid reaction to cover up the fact you were caught whistling by the graveyard.

This scenario presents itself again this week with the release of a provincial inquest report into the death of Tracia Owen, a ward of the child welfare system who took her own life after a lifetime of selling her body to support a drug habit.

Provincial court Judge John Guy expressed shock at the sad and predictable conditions that ultimately pushed Owen beyond despair: Dysfunctional bureaucracy, insufficient funding, jurisdictional buckpassing.

The province wasted little time in responding. Family Services Minister Gord Mackintosh said later the same day Guy released his report that the province would act on two recommendations. He would convene a summit of child welfare specialists, and create a multi-disciplinary unit to help sexually exploited children.

While it is too soon to judge the efficacy of these measures, one is left to wonder if the NDP really needed the suicide of a 14-year-old girl to act? Was this a government acknowledging a problem and acting, or a government trying desperately to respond to a problem they should have addressed before Owen's death?

While it is too soon to judge the efficacy of these measures, one is left to wonder if the NDP really needed the suicide of a 14-year-old girl to act? Was this a government acknowledging a problem and acting, or a government trying desperately to respond to a problem they should have addressed before Owen's death?

The NDP government of Premier Gary Doer is very, very good at reacting rapidly to crisis.

In February 2003, the NDP government was under attack after a patient, Diane Gorsuch, died after waiting more than two years for cardiac surgery. Following her death, it was learned that two other patients had died the same year waiting for cardiac surgery.

As the story took hold in the media, the NDP unleashed a tidal wave of rapid-response policy. Then Health Minister Dave Chomiak pumped $1 million into cardiac surgery and ordered a wholesale review of cardiac care. The province flew in cardiac surgeons from other provinces to help clear waiting lists.

It seemed like responsive government but -- using a phrase Doer often employs -- there were a few things that didn't pass the smell test.

Chomiak was quoted as saying he was shocked when he learned other patients had died prior to Gorsuch because he hadn't been told. Given that the opposition Tories had been hammering away at the issue of waiting lists and cardiac care for some time, it never seemed plausible that the minister of health would not have heard about a growing problem with the cardiac surgery waiting list.

Second, why did Manitoba fly in surgeons? The WRHA told reporters the cardiac waiting list had grown to uncomfortable lengths in large part because of a shortage of nurses, not surgeons. In fact, it was learned that Manitoba's five cardiac surgeons weren't doing enough surgeries to keep their skills sharp. The WRHA said it had always wanted to bring in another surgeon, but without more nurses it would be pointless.

An NDP source said with no hesitation that while it may be only decent health care policy, it was fantastic public relations. Government was seen to be doing something at a time when people wanted their government to do something.

It cannot be denied there is a lot of good this government has done in health care and family services; the fact that it is not enough, will never be enough, is the reality of governing. Sometimes, it takes a tragedy to highlight a problem, and force change.

It also cannot be denied that government is too big and unwieldy, and too busy keeping up with the provision of basic services, to consistently and accurately predict the next crisis.

However, it remains a mystery to many observers how a government who rode to power on a renewed dedication to health care would not have identified the cardiac surgery crisis long before Diane Gorsuch died.

It is similarly mystifying how an NDP government, which boasts more former social workers per legislative seat than any other Manitoba party,could not have seen the dysfunction in the child welfare system long before Tracia Owen took her life.

The province should be applauded for its rapid response this week. But it was a long way off timely.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 18, 2008