Helen Ward holds bachelor’s degrees from both Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia, bringing strong academic credentials to her advocacy work. As president of Kids First Parent Association of Canada, she has spent 25 years researching and publishing on parent-child welfare and the growing power imbalance between families and the state. Her work has been featured in major Canadian media outlets including CBC, National Post, Toronto Star, and Globe and Mail. She has presented to federal committees and various think tanks, and Kids First has engaged in legal challenges to British Columbia’s education and child protection policies. As a single mother who has experienced the challenges of raising children on a low income, Ward combines lived experience with rigorous research to advocate for policies that respect and support the parent-child bond. Her expertise spans education policy, child care economics, child protection law, and medical consent issues affecting minors.
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The transcript for this witness testimony is currently in production by our volunteers. It will be available soon here on this page and as a downloadable PDF.
Summary
Ward presents compelling evidence of systematic discrimination against the parent-child relationship in Canada through a policy agenda called ‘defamilialization.’ She explains how this ideology, promoted by both corporate interests seeking profit and left-wing advocates pushing state intervention, aims to transfer child-rearing responsibilities from families to government and corporate service providers. She cites research from top Canadian economists showing that Quebec’s universal daycare system has resulted in worse outcomes for children, including increased aggression, behavioral problems, lower life satisfaction, and higher crime rates. Ward reveals how the state has created a system where parents can be anonymously reported to child protection services, leading to investigations without due process or evidence. She describes how mature minor consent laws allow children of any age to make medical decisions without parental knowledge, including refusing addiction treatment, which has led to preventable deaths. Ward argues that billions in government funding goes to daycare centers and service providers rather than directly to families, creating financial coercion that forces parents to use institutional care. She presents recommendations including funding families directly through tax credits, requiring due process in child protection cases, reforming mature minor consent laws, and ensuring parents maintain decision-making authority over their children’s education and healthcare.
Credentials
Helen Ward is a dedicated advocate for parental rights and child well-being, serving as president of Kids First Parent Association of Canada. As a single mother of two, she brings both personal experience and 25 years of research to her work defending family autonomy. Ward testifies about Canada’s systematic discrimination against parent-child relationships through policies of ‘defamilialization.’ She presents evidence showing how government-funded daycare programs harm children’s development and argues that state interventions in education, child protection, and healthcare violate parental rights while failing to improve child outcomes.
Ward holds bachelor’s degrees from both Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia, bringing strong academic credentials to her advocacy work. Her research has been featured in major Canadian media outlets including CBC, National Post, Toronto Star, and Globe and Mail, and she has presented to federal committees and various think tanks. As someone who has experienced the challenges of raising children on a low income, Ward combines lived experience with rigorous research to advocate for policies that respect and support the parent-child bond. Her expertise spans education policy, child care economics, child protection law, and medical consent issues affecting minors, making her a leading voice in the movement to restore parental authority and protect families from state overreach.
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