October 19th through 25th is Foster Families Week, and tomorrow (Wednesday) we're going to be talking about the situation with foster families and children in our province.  The bottom line is that there are more foster kids than foster homes in Saskatchewan, and that needs to be addressed now. 

The Saskatchewan Government Employees Union has picked up this issue, issuing a press release last week wailing about the "children at risk" and how SGEU members are so worried "about the long-term impact on the children's health and well-being."

Really.

The foster home shortage is our province is nothing new.  In  spring of 2005 it was reported that the number of children placed in care had risen 12% over the past year, with 700 more kids in need in Saskatoon alone.  So, I'm just going to take a minute and go back through SGEU press releases from that time period, because surely that would have been an issue for employees then...look at that, nothing.

In March of 2006 then Community Resources Minister Buckley Belanger kicked off a foster family recruitment campaign, looking for at least 150 new families to volunteer in Saskatchewan.  You'd think SGEU would have chimed in at this point...hmm.  Crickets.

No, it was October 17th, 2008 before SGEU issued a statement, and you'll never guess who they declared at fault.

Yesterday SGEU vice-president Barry Nowoselsky spoke publicly on the issue, wringing his hands about the state of things and pointing all ten fingers at Social Services Minister Donna Harpauer's office and how she refused to meet with him - clearly insinuating that she doesn't care.  In the same interview, Deb Davies of the Saskatchewan Foster Families Association - which has been jumping up and down about the urgency of this issue for four years - gently interrupts him and says "we are getting results from Minister Harpauer.  Her door is always open...she is solution-focused." 

Here's the thing - Barry did have a meeting booked yesterday to discuss the foster care issue with the Deputy Minister of Social Services, but Barry phoned and cancelled it right before it was scheduled to begin.  Somehow though, the agreed-to meeting didn't come up in his public statements.  Further, Barry held a meeting with Harpauer just three months ago, in which he raised several SGEU issues, but not one mention of the foster care situation. 

Obviously this "crisis" has popped up overnight. 

Oh no wait...the issue "just hasn't happened overnight," said Deb Davies yesterday.

SGEU also promised to call a provincial foster family association yesterday afternoon to set up a meeting to discuss the children (remember them?) - SGEU never called.

Tomorrow morning we're going to address the issue on JGL.  I called SGEU to ask a spokesperson to join Gormley, but, alas, they're boycotting Gormley, you see.   

I asked Susan Dusel, Communications Officer for SGEU if they couldn't find it within themselves, just this once, to put the "children in crisis" ahead of themselves. 

Nope.

Let me spell this out for you.  SGEU were not concerned about foster children in the past - when the NDP government was in power, with whom their executive members were in bed with politically.  Suddenly they're making hay out of it when the Sask Party government - one they're not too fond of - has the reigns.  Bottom line is that when it comes to making political gains, SGEU isn't below dragging out and pretending to care about underprivileged children - but when it stops working with their agenda, they stop caring. 

On the show tomorrow we're not going to turn this into the issue, because at the end of the day it's about getting every child in Saskatchewan into a warm bed and a place where they have a chance, every single night. And don't get me wrong, the SGEU plays a pivotal role in this discussion, which is why  we asked them to join it.  The importance of social workers and those on the front line shouldn't be understated - but it's about always putting the kids first, not politics.

Tammy Robert is the Executive Producer of 'The John Gormley Live Show' - listen live every weekday morning from 8.30am - 12.30pm on NewsTalk 650 or NewsTalk 980.