New Brunswick promises greater transparency on unexpected child deaths

FREDERICTON — The New Brunswick government is promising greater transparency when it reviews child deaths.

In recent years, the province’s child death review committee has reported its recommendations from investigations into the unexpected deaths of children under the age of 19, but it provided few details — citing privacy concerns.

Greg Forestell, the province’s chief coroner, said starting Jan. 1 the reports will include more details, such as the child’s age and whether they were receiving services from the Department of Social Development.

“Following consultations with the integrity commissioner and the child and youth advocate, brief anonymized summaries of the circumstances of the death will now be released to the public along with the report recommendations,” Forestell said Wednesday.

He said it’s important that the effort to provide increased transparency maintains a level of privacy for the deceased and their families.

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“I want to point out that child deaths in our province are usually the result of natural deaths or accidental causes,” Forestell said. “Incidents of abuse or neglect causing death do not make up the majority of cases. Overall, the rate of child deaths in New Brunswick is below the national average.”

New Brunswick’s child death review committee was created in 1996 following a number of high-profile tragedies.

Among them were Jacqueline Brewer, a 28-month-old girl who died in the south end of Saint John as the result of dehydration and neglect, and John Ryan Turner, a three-year-old from Miramichi who starved to death.

Norm Bosse, the province’s child and youth advocate, said he welcomes the changes, calling them a step forward.

He said getting better information to the public can help put a greater focus on the well-being of young people.

“An informed public is a public that can sometimes prevent things from happening, and child deaths just happens to be one of them,” Bosse said. 

The Canadian Press