The past week and a half has been “incredibly difficult” for Irwin Elman.

And it’s unlikely to get any better — Elman is Ontario’s child advocate, and on Nov. 16 in legislation tabled in the province’s fall fiscal update, his office got the axe. The legislation led to widespread condemnation from child’s rights advocates and other groups province-wide.

First Nations groups in northern and northwestern Ontario, including Grand Council Treaty Three and Nishnawbe Aski Nation issued statements criticizing the move.

The advocate’s office independently investigates mistreatment of youth in child welfare, and reviews government policy that affects children. It also does outreach work, supporting children and youth seeking help, and encourages youth to know their rights.

The province intends to roll many of the duties of the advocate into the Office of the Ontario Ombudsman, another independent watchdog.

Kenora-Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford said in a recent interview that the move will strengthen the power of the ombudsman to investigate child welfare issues.

“I understand they want to strengthen investigation oversight into children’s aid societies. I think that would’ve been great, to give us more investigative power,” Elman said in a phone interview.

However, Elman thinks Ontario’s children and youth are losing an important voice, he explained using a hypothetical child in Kenora as an example.

“I think of a child in Kenora, who maybe is in a group home, and isn’t being treated fairly in her mind — isn’t being afforded her rights, or maybe doesn’t even know what her rights are and she’s feeling lost and alone with nobody to support her, hear her or stand beside her,” Elman said. “Right now, she has the right to call us in private and speak to one of my staff, an advocate, who will say ‘How can I help you? What’s going on?’”

However, if the current legislation passes, that child won’t have anyone to call, Elman said. “It’s not in the legislation; it’s not the ombudsman’s job, that’s not what an ombudsman does. They’re just gone.”

Elman pointed to aspects of the legislation governing the advocate’s office that wouldn’t be included in the ombudsman’s duties — particularly of the role of supporting children, especially when seeking mental health service, or when looking to understand their rights.

Access to resources is particularly important in northwestern Ontario, Elman suggested, where isolated, often fly-in only First Nations communities dot the landscape.

“These oversight offices will be modernized to ensure that residents in all areas of the province will have easier access to these services,” Rickford, who also serves as the minister of Indigenous Affairs among other files, said in a previous interview.

Rickford also suggested the advocate’s office didn’t do enough work in northern Ontario and that this new legislation will better help children in the region.

Elman sees that as a reason to grow the advocate’s office, rather than cut it, he said.

“Maybe there should’ve been a satellite office in Kenora, maybe we should move towards that,” he said, also noting there’s an office in Thunder Bay. “If there was a need to expand our services, then I think we should do that.”

Elman said he’ll make the case to the ombudsman that there needs to be an ombudsman’s office in the north, and that he hopes the MPP does too.

epindera@postmedia.com