Ombudsman's second report on Hidden Valley finds fewer than half of earlier recommendations have been met.

Thursday, 29 February 2024 09:21

In 2019, sexual assault allegations were made against an educational assistant at Hidden Valley Public School in Whitehorse. Parents and families weren't told until 18 months later. (CHON-FM File Photo)

Education Minister responds, saying YG accepts eight new recommendations "in principle."

The Yukon Ombudsman’s office has released its second report into the communications failure at Hidden Valley Elementary School in 2019.

The report, titled Left in the Dark, is a review of the Department of Education’s Safe Schools Action Plan, which was created in response to its acceptance of one of four investigations into the incident. It found that of 19 total considerations, only eight met fully their recommendations from that initial report.

Education Minister Jeanie McLean released a statement in response to the second report on Wednesday, saying that the Government of Yukon took the wellbeing and safety of students very seriously. McLean also stated that the government is accepting the report’s eight recommendations “in principle.”

That phrasing raised a concern among critics. The second-last paragraph in the summary of the report states that the ombudsman’s office is unsure what ‘in principle’ means in this context.

But the confusion extended to the Official Opposition, as well. Lake Laberge MLA Brad Cathers says that the phrasing of the government’s acceptance of the recommendations is less than reassuring.

“Well, it is very disappointing to see them only accepting the ombudsman’s recommendations in principle,” said Cathers in an interview on Wednesday. “The ombudsman himself was obviously not happy with that, and wants to see them actually commit to following through on [the recommendations]; not just doing so ‘in principle,’ which is much vaguer language, and leaves room for the government to perhaps not follow through on matters.”

Cathers expressed his satisfaction with the ombudsman’s report, including the preferred timeline on revising the Government’s Action Plan.

“The ombudsman asked for this to be dealt with within six months,” said Cathers. “And I think that’s a reasonable request. It could probably, actually, be done sooner.”

“Among [sic] the findings in the report include that parts of the Action Plan government developed actually blur the lines of accountability. And you’ll see within there that there are specific recommendations from the ombudsman regarding the importance of having a department responsible for something and a clear indication of which official is responsible for something.”

CHON-FM reached out to Minister McLean to discuss the report further and clarify what accepting the recommendations “in principle” means following her statement on Wednesday. The minister was unavailable for comment.

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