ABBOTSFORD (NEWS1130) - Derek Hoare is bringing a cake to his daughter's school this afternoon so she can celebrate her 10th birthday, but he won't give it to her in person.
Hoare hasn't seen his girl since she was taken by the province six months ago.
Ayn has autism and when she wandered away from home back in June, the Ministry of Children and Family Development stepped in.
Hoare was told he had too much on his plate as a single dad with three kids, two with special needs.
He hasn't visited Ayn since that happened.
"She should not be left in a position where she has to see me walk away from her and leave her in a situation that she doesn't want to be in," Hoare said. "For her to see me, and then have me walk away and leave her would be permanently damaging for her."
In an effort to raise awareness for his case, Hoare is putting up balloons outside Seven Oaks Mall in Abbotsford and the Ministry of Children and Family Development office. He has started a
petition and a
Twitter account.
Also, dozens of people around the world are taking pictures of themselves releasing balloons and posting them on a
Facebook page that's been set up for Ayn.
Hoare has a case conference scheduled for Jan. 23, but he's not expecting to get a decision.
He's hoping to work out a solution with a case worker first.
"What we had done and where we left off was I was to draw up a proposal for [how I would care for] both of my [other] kids and they would review and sign off on that," Hoare said.
"What's happened in the interim is the worker I was doing all of these negotiations with has left. A new worker has taken over the file. I don't know if we're back at the beginning or if we can keep going forward with the negotiations. I could be looking at 2013 before I ever get to sit in front of the judiciary and argue why she never should have been taken."
Hoare wants to see a process in place so parents can appeal cases like this quickly.