Jordan's principle - putting the interests of the child first

Jordan, a child from a northern Manitoba community, was born in 1999. He had complex medical problems and had to be in hospital for the first two years of his life.

In 2001, he was ready to go home. Sadly the provincial and federal government's spent two years wrangling over who was going to pay for items for Jordan's care - items as small as a shower head.

Jordan died in 2003 as a result of his complex medical condition. What is sad, is that he never had a chance to experience the dignity and love of a family environment.

In an article in the journal - Paediatrics and Child Health -the journal of the Canadian Paediatric Society, Trudy Lavallee calls on governments to adopt Jordan's principle - that the interests of the child should come first - and the intergovernmental disputes over funding be dealt with afterwards. You can see this article at: http://www.pulsus.com/Paeds/10_09/Pdf/lava_ed.pdf

I raised this in the legislature yesterday and asked the government to adopt Jordan's principle.