Helpful Systems

Kiaras Gharabaghi, with Tahmo Gharabaghi & Kio Gharabaghi

In January 2010, a report published by the Children's Well-Being Task Force of the Ontario Government concluded the following:

"In the absence of immediate action to resolve the continued problem of unqualified and unregulated staffing in residential care facilities across the province, children and youth residing in such facilities are at acute risk and in imminent danger. We urge the government to take action to rectify this impending disaster.”

By way of being helpful, the Ontario Association of Child and Youth Counsellors immediately sent a letter to the Government of Ontario stating the following:

"A solution to this crisis is at hand and will require no financial commitment on the part of the government. As an Association, we are ready and able to manage the regulation of residential child and youth workers and we can start doing so immediately upon the passing of the relevant regulation that would provide us with the appropriate mandate.”

With the problem thus stated and the solution articulated, the Ontario Government took the unusual step of by-passing its routine bureaucratic process and moving the matter straight to its “Tribunal for the Acceleration of Action Pursuant to Urgent and Possibly Life-Threatening Matters Affecting the Well Being of Ontario’s Most Vulnerable Populations”. This tribunal is constituted by three well-known decision-makers with a history of cutting through red tape in order to achieve results. Below is a reproduction of the e-mail exchanges between the three distinguished members of the Tribunal upon receipt of the government’s mandate “to take immediate action to resolve the matter within the parameters of government rules and processes.”

Sent from Sven Larson, January 10, 2010, 10:05am

Dear Colleagues: I note that this matter is of utmost urgency and our work therefore must remain focused and determined to produce the necessary outcomes. I would therefore propose that we appoint a committee to develop the necessary steps for immediate action and request a progress report by the end of February. We can have this committee report on both the recommended actions as well as the necessary accountability components of the process. I trust that this will move us ahead on the matter as articulated.
Sven Larson, Chairman

Sent from Edward Portely Takahashi, January 17, 2010, 3:14pm

Dear Colleagues: With its juxtapositioning of action and accountability matters, this plan is bound to pit provider against regulator. I am very concerned. Good committee work always entails appropriate safeguards that ensure the untangling of potentially conflictual functions. I propose we charge a sub-committee to the Committee to develop the necessary components of said safeguards. With this step, we should be well on our way toward a resolution by mid-April. E. Portely Takahashi, Secondary Chair, Past Chair

Sent from Munsinder Patel Singh, February 02, 2010, 3:50pm

Dear Members of the TAAPUPLTMAWBOMVP: While I appreciate the astounding results that your discussions to date have been able to produce in such a short time span, I have a number of concerns regarding the legitimacy of this strategic blueprint. First, with respect to transparency – was the process transparent to all of the members of the Tribunal as well as to the regional Community Event Planning Groups (province wide)? Second, with respect to privacy – will the proposed dissemination infringe on the recipients' right to privacy. Has the proposal been vetted by the privacy commissioner's office in accordance with Sec. 23, 45(a,c), and Sec. 133 (b only). And third, with respect to diversity – I have received very limited information on the membership of the committee: as you know, we require broad representation from all of the 162 minority groups that have been identified in the regions, listed in our 2008 compendium titled 'Building Multi-Group Cohesion Patterns In A Diverse Society: A Preliminary Report', available through our web site (scheduled to be launched in 2012). I am looking forward to your elaborations on these important points, and we will discuss preliminary approval of this excellent proposal at our next meeting on July 12th, 2010.
Sincerely,
Munsinder Patel Singh, Associate Chair

Sent from Edward Portely Takahashi, September 21, 2010, 5:15pm

Gentlemen: I note with humble gratitude your renewed and growing commitment to the noble cause of diversity. May I suggest, as a small and insignificant part of what will surely be an extended period of data gathering, my own painstaking work in the study “DNA Minutiae: Diversity Now!" published by Coroners's Press, Nairobi.
E. Portely-Takahashi, Secondary Chair, Past Chair

Sent from Munsinder Patel-Singh, December 10, 2010, 5:45pm

Colleagues: I am increasingly concerned that this process to address matters of utmost urgency has taken insufficient account of the possible limitations with respect to the efficiencies built into the planned groupings of experts and consulting forums. I urge a renewed effort at ensuring that efficiency and efficacy of the process are re-positioned to form the core of our efforts to mitigate the implication of the impending disaster for Ontario’s most vulnerable populations.
Sincerely, Munsinder Patel-Singh, Associate Chair

Sent from Sven Larson, January 14, 2011, 6:00pm Dear Members:

As it has become clear that the initial impetus for strategic planning may have been endorsed in haste by the committee and its standing sub-committees, as well as by the task force reporting to the auditor functions of the afore-mentioned sub-committee's planning groups, it has been decided that the terms of reference for any of the subsidiary agents related to the oversight body for the process defined in sub-section 17 under paragraph 14 and again in sub-section 19 under paragraph 1a will have to be reviewed thoroughly before any further action can be taken. As a result, an external group will meet to discuss a process by which the consultants associated with the initial aims of the project can be re-assigned for a renewed effort at recruitment, duly taking into account the need for transparency as well as diversity considerations as noted by the esteemed member. I do note that prior to commencement of said efforts, French language rights will have to be studied. The request for proposals to address said language rights is being drafted for review and will be tendered using the standard “efficient allocation" format for which the department has earned so many accolades.
Sven Larson, Chair

Sent from Edward Portely Takahashi, March 17, 2014, 4:30pm

To my Esteemed Co-Members of the Tribunal: Thank you for your comprehensive, all-encompassing, powerful first draft. Upon evidence-based scrutiny by the Joint Technical Liability Interface Network Coalition, we expect to be well-positioned to issue a call for amendments according to best practice guidelines contained in Appendix C of the preliminary report to the director of the 1974 Symposium for Quorum in Multi-Disciplinary Inquiry no later than the third quarter of the upcoming fiscal year.

On a personal note, I will, regretfully, not be there to witness and taste first-hand the sweet fruits of our labours: Just prior to the commencement of our feasibility study and environmental assessment as required by Section 4, Article 6.2 of the Statutes of Governance, and pending independent estimation and ascertainment of liquidity of our pension plan, I am set to pass the torch to a new generation, an individual, a mensch embodying like you and I the ideals of vision, leadership and the bottom-line. I will, of course, follow with great interest from afar, the implementation and subsequent phase-out process. Gentlemen, we have come a long way!
E. Portely Takahashi, Associate Chair (ret.), Past Chair

Meanwhile, at a group home in Central Ontario, on August 02, 2015:

Supervisor: “Have you ever worked with kids before?”
Candidate: “Not really, but my Mom had kids.”
Supervisor: “Do you understand the notion of Self?”
Candidate: “Sure, I think I actually have one of them.”
Supervisor: “Great, we are really happy to welcome you on board!”