Part two in a two-part series on a Chilliwack family鈥檚 response to the death of their 15-year-old.
鈥� Read
Peter Lang and Linda TenPas have endured every parent鈥檚 worst nightmare: the loss of a child.
And if that tragedy was not enough, add to it that 15-year-old Nick Lang鈥檚 death was entirely preventable.
When the young teen鈥檚 marijuana use elevated to crystal meth, things got really bad, culminating in Nick assaulting his mother.
Hoping to find treatment for their son via the justice system and the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD), the Chilliwack parents had to 鈥渃riminalize鈥� their own son, as Linda puts it, to seek help.
Instead of getting supervision and help, an allegedly incompetent probation officer did not inform a foster family of Nick鈥檚 history of self-harm. Five days into the stay with the family, the teen was left alone and found dead in a closet on June 9, 2015.
Blaming ministry incompetence, Peter and Linda filed a lawsuit against the provincial government and demanded an inquiry.
Months and now years dragged on, but after the last provincial election that saw the BC Liberals defeated by the new NDP-Green coalition, the couple saw some change and recently decided to drop the civil suit.
鈥淭his lawsuit was because the [BC] Liberals at the time, they wouldn鈥檛 talk to us,鈥� Peter says. 鈥淭he minister wouldn鈥檛 even say Nick鈥檚 name. We waited for months and months for them to reach out to us, to say 鈥榳e are going to fix this or that.鈥� The only way to get these guys to change things is to toss them money because the only thing they value is money.鈥�
Linda reiterates that.
鈥淚t was really against the actions of the government of the day. They wouldn鈥檛 say Nick鈥檚 name, they wouldn鈥檛 engage with us at all.鈥�
Indeed, that was Linda鈥檚 approach to the local MLAs when she confronted them on the campaign trail last year. She said the Christy Clark government continued to say the economy needed to be stronger before additional services could be paid for.
鈥淲hat was the cost of my son鈥檚 life?鈥� she asked John Martin and Laurie Throness.
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And while the two local MLAs won back their seats, the provincial government changed and quickly Peter and Linda started to see changes, if modest ones.
鈥淩ight after the NDP and Green formed [government] we got the minister鈥檚 assistant to talk to us as well as Bernard Richard, the Representative for Children and Youth.
鈥淚鈥檝e got friends that work on the inside who said that because of Nick鈥檚 case, this changed or that changed,鈥� Peter said, giving an example of a detox program in Williams Lake that was on the 鈥渨ant鈥� list for years and has now been started.
So Peter and Linda recently decided to drop the lawsuit against a government that was led by the BC Liberals, although neither are NDP cheerleaders.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not even close to where I want to see it, but at least we are seeing some movement there,鈥� Linda said, adding she feels like her energies can be better used fighting for youth in other ways.
鈥淓ven though we are dropping the lawsuit, I鈥檓 going to make sure we hold them accountable,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檓 certainly not going to disappear. I鈥檒l be in their face even more.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 still not convinced they are doing their job,鈥� Peter says.
Since The Progress first interviewed Peter and then Linda, the two were invited to attend a meeting of the Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth in Vancouver.
Speaking at the committee was B.C.鈥檚 Representative for Children and Youth Bernard Richard and representatives from all three parties, committee chair Nicholas Simons of the NDP, Sonia Furstenau of the Greens, and, coincidentally, committee member and Chilliwack-Hope MLA Laurie Throness.
鈥淚 want to give you my condolences as well,鈥� Throness said to Peter Lang at the meeting. 鈥淚 did that once in a public meeting in a very inadequate way, and I want to apologize if that has added to your sense of loss.鈥�
The latter reference to the election meeting when Throness was confronted by Linda about Nick鈥檚 death and her perceived inaction on the part of the government.
鈥淎s I read the report, I was struck with the heroic nature of Peter and Linda striving for their child and never giving up and doing all they could with the system in order to give him the best chance. You鈥檝e been through a lot, a great deal,鈥� Throness said.
After that, Throness invited them to meet up at a later date.
Overlooked in all of this saga for Peter is that he is M茅tis, and Nick was interested in that Indigenous heritage at times, and it was grossly overlooked by the ministry and particularly by the probation officer who Peter and Linda blame for much of what went wrong.
The issue of Indigenous heritage was addressed directly by Richard at the children and youth committee meeting on Jan. 26, in a way Peter has expressed in the past he hopes will lead to changes down the road.
鈥淪o 10 per cent of our staff are Indigenous,鈥� Richard told the committee. 鈥淏ut 65 per cent of our clients, to put it that way 鈥� children and families 鈥� are Indigenous. So we need to be more reflective of that. I think ministries like Health, Mental Health and Addictions, and MCFD should be much more robust in recruiting Indigenous staff at the higher levels.鈥�
As for Peter and Linda, they just hope Nick didn鈥檛 die in vain and young people struggling with mental health issues and addictions issues can be helped, wherever and whoever they are.
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paul.henderson@theprogress.com
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