Edmonton ... Given the level of previous public interest, Alberta's Child and Youth Advocate, John Mould, has publicly released documents that provide information about the process used to develop and submit his 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 annual reports.

"My intention in publicly sharing these documents is to provide context that I believe is important in understanding the circumstances surrounding the release of the annual reports, two of which were completed quite some time after the end of the year they cover," says Mould.

The information, now available on the Advocate's website, shows that two annual reports, one for 2005-06 and the other covering the period 2006 to 2008, were forwarded by the Advocate to the Minister of Children and Youth Services on May 28, 2008.  Three annual reports, one for each year from 2006 to 2008, were tabled by the Minister in the Legislature on October 14, 2008.

"It's my understanding that the May 28 versions of the annual reports were never seen by the Minister," says Mould. "When staff in her office received the reports and compared them to previous annual reports tabled in the Legislature, her staff raised questions about the format, including the fact that two years' worth of information was combined into a single report."

"The Deputy Minister relayed these concerns to me. I agreed to make the formatting changes and to create a separate report for each year, and as a result, the May 28 versions became draft versions of the reports that I submitted to the Minister's Office in September 2008.  The three annual reports were tabled by the Minister at the first opportunity, on the first day of the fall sitting of the Legislature," says Mould.

"In creating two separate reports for 2006-07 and 2007-08, I chose to add new content on the issue of educational attainment for children in care. Otherwise, there were no material changes between the versions originally submitted in the Spring and the final versions tabled in Fall 2008, only some minor editing done at my discretion for clarity."

Mould explains that his practice when developing content for an annual report includes requesting input from staff at Children and Youth Services.  Any feedback is taken under consideration, but the final decision about which suggestions, if any, are used rests solely with the Advocate.

Mould reiterates his interest in continually improving the structure and content of the annual reports and his commitment to ensuring that future reports are completed and submitted on a yearly basis.

The background documents are posted below.

Media inquiries may be directed to:
John Mould
780-644-7610
To call toll-free within Alberta, dial 310-0000 and then the number above.

• Information release Jan 19 2009 Vol 1 pp 1-75.pdf  (PDF, 5.8 MB)
• Information release Jan 19 2009 Vol 1 pp 76-150.pdf (PDF, 5.7 MB)
• Information release Jan 19 2009 Vol 1 pp 151-225.pdf (PDF, 3.7 MB)
• Information release Jan 19 2009 Vol 1 pp 226-310.pdf  (PDF, 5.7 MB)
• Information release Jan 19 2009 Vol 2 pp 311-375.pdf (PDF, 4.3 MB)
• Information release Jan 19 2009 Vol 2 pp 376-450.pdf (PDF 3.0 MB)
• Information release Jan 19 2009 Vol 2 pp 451-498.pdf (PDF, 2.0 MB)
• Information release Jan 19 2009 Vol 3 pp 499-575.pdf  (PDF, 3.0 MB)
• Information release Jan 19 2009 Vol 3 pp 576-650.pdf (PDF, 4.5 MB)
• Information release Jan 19 2009 Vol 3 pp 651-725.pdf  (PDF, 5.8 MB)
• Information release Jan 19 2009 Vol 3 pp 726-755.pdf (PDF, 3.0 MB)

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