Phoenix Sinclair Inquiry now expected to cost $9.6M

The cost of an inquiry into the death of a young Manitoba girl is now up to $9.6 million.

Provincial budget documents show the Justice Department is expecting to spend $3 million this year on the Phoenix Sinclair inquiry — on top of $4.8 million last year.

The Family Services Department is putting up $750,000 this year, after spending a little more than $1 million in 2012.

Finance Minister Stan Struthers said earlier this year it is important that the inquiry have enough funding to complete its task.

The probe is examining how child welfare failed to protect Phoenix, a former foster child who was beaten to death at the age of five after social workers gave her back to her mother.

The inquiry started last fall but has been delayed several times and is expected to wrap up in the summer.