This Article is Breaking the Law

Tags: Smiths Falls Police CAS
Author's Note:
​This article isn’t really breaking the law.

Of course, I would never breach an undertaking. I was released from police custody, and signed a document that swore I would not do that. I am to keep the peace, be of good behaviour and have certain limitations regarding the subject of my writings.

Before I was arrested for being an alleged hacker, I had been writing about the child protection industry, and still am to the extent that I can with my release conditions. I was learning about service delivery, performance indicators and fund allocations. I have conducted a few interviews, as a concerned member of the public, that I feel clarifies what I was worried about. The problems with child welfare in Ontario, are not complicated. As with most problems in this world, if we follow the money (or lack thereof) we find that all problems can be reduced to the simple equation that is, a balanced budget.

A balanced budget is great when managing household expenses, or determining the profitability of a company. When your revenues might not always match up with your expenditures, a balanced budget can help prevent financial disaster. Funds can be diverted and appropriated where necessary.
So how does this model play out in the private non-profit sector, where most social service agencies operate and where the “expenditures” are usually people in need? Can we ethically and morally divert funds? Will Ontario face financial disaster from helping these people?

I don’t buy it. I don’t think the abuse that may come from guaranteeing resources for all who need it even compares to the abuse a child being protected by an understaffed agency may endure. The balanced budget model doesn’t work on people, especially children.
The problems with all social services in Ontario, are not complicated. It’s all about the bottom line, and how actually helping people, just doesn’t fit the budget. Children do not come first in Ontario, money does.   
I am learning the awesome power of the pen. Having your say, can lead to change, but it can also cause adversity. But then again, overcoming adversity generally leads to change as well.

What is illegal for me to write about today, might not be soon and is certainly not illegal for anyone else to write about. So, pardon my elephant, so to speak. My elephant, I’ve nicknamed Stampy, is a bit of a jerk. I have lots more to say, once I say it to a Judge first. Stay tuned.

-Kelley Denham