VICTORIA 鈥� sa国际传媒鈥檚 premiers will attempt this week to tackle the unacceptably high rate of aboriginal kids in government care.
The issue is on the agenda largely due to Ted Hughes, a former sa国际传媒 judge and the architect of sa国际传媒鈥檚 child welfare system. He persuaded Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger to champion the issue at the Council of the Federation meeting that starts Wednesday in Charlottetown.
The over-representation of First Nations children in care will also be discussed with First Nations leaders during separate meetings, said Selinger.
鈥淢y view is we should come out with a joint working group that will prepare an action plan that we can recommend and implement across the country,鈥� Selinger said in an interview with The Vancouver Sun.
Selinger agreed with Hughes, who has argued provincia; and federal governments need to act, and not launch more studies or inquiries.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to focus on action,鈥� said Selinger. 鈥淭here鈥檚 things that have been done, money invested in prevention, but there鈥檚 just too many children in care. We have to find more ways, and more resolve and determination, and more partnerships, to ensure our children can be in their communities, and their families can be supported to care for them.鈥�
sa国际传媒 Premier Christy Clark also supports the discussion, after a meeting with Hughes, who has headed several high-profile public inquiries into child deaths.
鈥淪he agreed she鈥檇 give it her full support,鈥� Hughes said. 鈥淚鈥檓 optimistic to think maybe finally after all these years something is going to happen.鈥�
More than 80 per cent of children in care in Manitoba are aboriginal. The trend extends across sa国际传媒. In sa国际传媒, only 5.4 per cent of the population is aboriginal but aboriginal children account for 53 per cent of kids in government care.
The discussion by premiers occurs against a backdrop of recent high-profile child murders in Manitoba. Winnipeg police are investigating the killing of Tina Fontaine, a 15-year-old aboriginal girl who fled a foster home early this month and whose body was found wrapped in a bag and dumped in the Red River.
The Manitoba government also pledged action earlier this year after Hughes concluded a public inquiry into the murder of a five-year-old First Nations girl, Phoenix Sinclair. She killed by her mother and her mother鈥檚 boyfriend in 2006 after a period of prolonged abuse. Hughes made 62 recommendations to help fix Manitoba鈥檚 child welfare system.
Selinger admitted the two murders have spurred action and 鈥減eople are very concerned鈥� about the issue.
In sa国际传媒, the 2002 death of 19-month-old Sherry Charlie at the hands of a violent uncle in Port Alberni sparked a full review of the child welfare system by Hughes and the creation of an independent watchdog, the representative for children and youth.
Charlie had been placed in her uncle鈥檚 care by the government, under a rushed new policy of placing kids taken into care with relatives or friends.
Hughes has called the high number of aboriginal kids in government care 鈥渦nconscionable鈥� and a 鈥渘ational embarrassment鈥� that requires action by provincial, federal and First Nations leaders.
鈥淚鈥檓 sort of a lone voice in having said that I don鈥檛 think another inquiry is the solution, but rather it鈥檚 time for an action plan to deal with those underlying factors of poverty, substance abuse, inadequate housing and social exclusion, which is a big factor which results from those issues,鈥� said Hughes. 鈥淎ll of which go back to the policies of colonization.鈥�
Solution will require federal involvement given its responsibility for First Nations reserves and treaties, but Ottawa鈥檚 level of interest remains unclear.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters Thursday that he won鈥檛 call a public inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women because the deaths are usually the result of criminal activity and not a 鈥渟ociological phenomenon.鈥�
Many of the chiefs from sa国际传媒鈥檚 more than 200 First Nation communities will meet with Premier Clark and her cabinet next month in Vancouver. Though the agenda is expected to be dominated by discussion of the recent Supreme Court of sa国际传媒 land title ruling in favour of the Tsilhqot鈥檌n First Nation, Hughes said it鈥檚 also a good opportunity for chiefs and government to discuss action on the children-in-care issue.
