The release of a report last week investigating the death of a thirteen-month old child in foster care provides upsetting evidence of how our province continues to fail those who depend critically on our support: our children. The inadequate staffing and funding to this service were aggravated with millions of dollars of cuts in April of this year.

And this negligence hasn’t stopped. Since this child’s death in 2005, three more children have died in foster care. When will the current government insist on thorough and fail-safe background checks of foster parents, and provide adequate support to those foster parents who take on this immense service to society?

The mismanagement and continued strain on Children and Youth Services has to stop before the futures of even more young Albertans are compromised. This is yet another example of how the current government’s lack of basic business principles is costing future generations.

Some might say fossil fuels are Alberta’s greatest resource. I disagree. Our greatest resources are our children and grandchildren, who will continue to lead this province long after our economy has changed in ways the rest of the world is already moving.