Seeing inaction on systemic racism, Native Women's Shelter of Montreal cuts ties with Batshaw

The Native Women's Shelter of Montreal and its research team are suspending their partnership with an advisory committee involved in improving the city's youth protection services for Indigenous children.

The decision comes after months of not getting concrete commitments or action from the Batshaw Youth and Family Centre in relation to several recommendations made in reports and public inquiries such as the Viens Commission and the Laurent Commission. 

Batshaw provides youth protection services for anglophones in Montreal, including Inuit children who are flown in from Nunavik, Que.

In an August letter addressed to the CIUSSS de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal — the regional health authority that oversees Batshaw — the shelter's executive director, Nakuset, said evidence of systemic racism directed at Indigenous children and their families within the CIUSSS is ongoing, and remains unaddressed.

A month later, the shelter still hasn't received a response to its letter, said Nakuset during a news conference on Tuesday.

An investigation by the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission found earlier this year that Inuit children under Batshaw's care do not receive an adequate education, and are sometimes discouraged from speaking their mother tongue.

Nakuset, who has for years advocated for better care of Indigenous children in youth protection, says there's been little progress since then.

"We do not see any need at this time to further participate in meetings that produce practically no systemic changes at the employment and the service delivery levels for our peoples," said Nakuset.

A 2019 report, which was produced with Batshaw and the health authority's co-operation, recommended 29 calls for action, which included improving staff training, the hiring of Indigenous staff and the creation of a working group where community experts would be routinely consulted.

To date, not one change has been implemented, according to the shelter. 

"We never heard from Batshaw. Never any follow-up, never any steps to actually implement any of these recommendations," said Nakuset.

"It seems to go into like a void. So after a while you're like, 'Why do we keep showing up at the table?' This is not effective."

In an interview with CBC News, Katherine Moxness, who is in charge youth services for the regional health authority that covers Montreal's West Island, said she is having a hard time finding and hiring Indigenous staff.

Moxness claims the regional CIUSSS is doing its best to implement recommendations from the Viens and Laurent reports.

"It may not be at the speed in which they would like them to be implemented and I think we have a number of different cultures that we have to respect and we have a large compliment of employees that we have to train," she said.

Shelter still working with Batshaw families

During the news conference, Nakuset explained that while they have walked away from talks with upper management, the shelter will still be working with Batshaw social workers and families. 

"We are 100 per cent committed to the Indigenous children," she said. "We have four staff that are dedicated to working will all the caseloads. We have 50 families that we supported. We have a waiting list. We are the ones literally doing the work."

Fo Niemi, the executive director of the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations, accompanied Nakuset during Tuesday's news conference. He said he wants to build trust with Indigenous communities  and empower them to file complaints and explore potential legal action.

"Unless the complaints and the lawsuits come, things don't change," Niemi said. "Systemic problems require systemic solutions."

He also said he wants to also look at issues regarding employment and correcting underrepresentation of Indigenous people throughout the ranks, follow up on recommendations from the human rights commission report released in May. 

"At this point, we are at a loss as to what more youth protection needs in order to make substantial changes," said Nakuset.