Local 304 – How we are fighting for accountability at our workplace
Five years ago, York Region Children’s Aid Society (YRCAS) went through an operational review that was supposed to be a turning point — a moment to finally face the deep cultural and systemic issues that staff had been courageously naming for years. That publicly funded review laid out clear and achievable recommendations: greater transparency and the creation of independent accountability through an Ombudsman.
Five years later, we’re not in the same situation — we’re worse off.
Leadership at YRCAS is choosing the familiar path of avoidance, deflection, and performative change instead of meaningful reform, launching another workplace assessment that repeats the same cycle of broken trust and missed opportunity.
This most recent review, conducted by Agree Inc., was rolled out with promises of openness. Staff were told the full report would be shared once completed. Now, in a predictable reversal, the YRCAS Board has walked back that commitment, saying only “key findings” will be released – and only after the Board’s own review.
This isn’t transparency. It’s control. And it directly undermines the very trust the agency claims to be rebuilding.
We will not let them get away with it.
There needs to be real action to address the issues within our workplace – and that starts with the YRCAS Board taking accountability. That is why we have moved forward by filing a Freedom of Information request (FOI), where we are requesting that our employer deliver the final report, in its entirety, without any filters, without any spin.
It is time for the cycle of internal reviews with no accountability to stop, for the recommendations from the first operational review to be implemented to ensure genuine accountability moving forward.
We will continue to keep members updated as we move through this process and push the YRCAS Board to do better for frontline workers, the families they serve, and our communities as whole.
In Solidarity,
Kris Weatherall – Local 304
Acting President and First Vice President