Panel reviewing deaths of children in care criticized for lack of First Nations representative

A panel asked to find ways to improve Alberta's child-intervention system is being criticized for not including a First Nations representative.

 Aside from MLAs from each political party, the panel includes three expert advisors with backgrounds in child welfare or aboriginal family issues. One member, Patti Laboucane-Benson, is director of research and evaluation for Native Counseling Services of Alberta, and identifies as Métis-Ukrainian. 

 Since April 2014, a total of 73 children have died while receiving government services. Forty-two of those children were Indigenous, according to information from Children's Services.

"I think you're missing a big piece of the picture, given the vast majority of children in care in Alberta are First Nations, and the vast majority who have tragically passed away have been First Nations," said Cindy Blackstock, a leading national voice on equitable health care and services for Indigenous and First Nations children.

Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations and Family Caring Society, said a First Nations panel member could share the good practices of First Nations child agencies, and relay the implications of federal funding and intersection of provincial jurisdiction for First Nations children.

"I do think it's essential that someone on that panel can bring that level of awareness and expertise to the discussion."

Almost 10 years ago, Blackstock and the Assembly of First Nations filed a complaint against the federal government with the Canadian Human Rights Commission. They argued that children on reserves receive far less child-welfare support than those living off reserve.

Last year, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruled that the lack of support "resulted in denials of services and created various adverse impacts for many First Nations children and families living on reserves."

Blackstock said the knowledge of that sustained impact is crucial to addressing systemic problems.

"The lack of that information being at the table will really water down the review," she said.

Liberal Leader David Swann, who is a panel member, raised the issue of First Nations representation during the first panel meeting earlier this week. He said it's important the panel includes a First Nation member with direct knowledge about the system.

"I think in clear recognition of the high proportion of First Nations folks involved here, we need to have a very strong, public, visible representative of First Nations," Swann said.

'It's a relatively tight team'

The panel was hastily struck late last year after the government came under intense criticism for the way it handled the investigation into the death a four-year-old Indigenous girl, who died while in kinship care in 2014.

Children's Services Minister Danielle Larivee, who was named to the position in January, said the panel was kept small intentionally.

"It's a relatively tight team looking at a very specific issue," said Larivee.

The first phase of the panel's work will deal with a review of how the Children's Services department handles the deaths of children receiving government services. It will make recommendations in eight to 10 weeks.

After that, Larivee said she is open to adding panel members to review the overall child-intervention system.

"[The government] kept that relatively small, so it can be as nimble as it needed to be to make those recommendations in a timely fashion," said Larivee.