Quebec Cree leaders move to adapt youth services to the 'Eeyou way of life'

The Quebec Cree nation wants to change youth protection laws and services to adapt them to  Eeyou values, traditions and culture. 

On Sept. 7, officials launched the aah chishtipistihch-uschiniichisiu sikischaayimuwiniyiu or Cree Youth Protection Commission, an extensive, several months-long consultation process to gather ideas on how to change youth protection and eventually the youth criminal justice system.

"What we are looking for are new solutions. New ideas on how we can change the law, but change the system too … [to change] youth protection to integrate Cree culture, Cree content," said Bertie Wapachee, the chairperson of the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay.

Wapachee said he hopes to commission will hear from everyone — elders, grandparents, parents, youth and children, as well as many of the Cree organizations, such as the Cree School Board, women's association, youth council and the Eeyou Eenou Police Force, among others.

Representatives from these organizations, as well as the Cree Nation Government, are also part of a task force set up to advise the board on the recommendations of the commission. 

There will be several ways to contribute to the commission, according to a release — focus groups, testimonies and group discussions.

"There are a lot of our old ways that we can integrate into a new youth protection system," said Wapachee.

Decolonizing youth services

Wapachee said the commission is an important step in the decolonization of youth services in the Cree Nation and something that has been a personal goal of his since an early job he had in youth protection more than 30 years ago.

"We can no longer have a system that feels like a babysitting service … We cannot focus on just taking children away, let the parents party for a while, [then] bring the children back to the same environment." said Wapachee in his speech at the launch on Sept. 7 in Mistissini. 

Commissioners Bella M. Petawabano and Lorraine Spencer will travel to all the Cree communities between now and next summer gathering testimonies, although it's unclear when exactly those visits will begin.

Petawabano has several decades of experience as a senior manager with the Cree health board, including two terms as chairperson. 

Lorraine Spencer is trained in counselling psychology and is from Chisasibi, the largest of the Cree communities in Quebec. Spencer worked with the Cree School Board for many years and most recently with the Justice and Correctional Services department for the Cree Nation Government. 

"We have the capacity to make changes such as laws that govern us. We have the financial and human resources. We have our traditions, our culture, our language, our values. Our solutions have to come from us." said Spencer on the commission's website. 

'Fueled by a big fire': Cindy Blackstock

Cindy Blackstock has spent her entire career advocating for Indigenous youth. The Gitxsan activist from Burns Lake, B.C., is the executive director of the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada. She is also a social work professor at McGill University.

Blackstock was on hand for the launch of the Cree Youth Protection Commission. She said there are many underlying societal inequalities that fuel the failings in the current model of youth protection and youth justice systems in Indigenous communities. 

"Is it child welfare that's the problem? Is it youth justice that's the problem? I actually don't think that those are the major problems. They are both fueled by a big fire." said Blackstock.

Blackstock said those fires are poor housing, addictions and domestic violence that stem from intergenerational trauma and contemporary colonialism. 

"No matter how pretty of a tool or a law that you put on top of that, if you don't deal with the fire, it will burn," said Blackstock, acknowledging the important work the commission will do.

Also on hand for the launch of the commission was Catherine Lemay, Quebec's national director of youth protection.

"Services developed to contribute to the well-being of Indigenous populations cannot be the same as [those for] children in the rest of Quebec," she said, adding it's important to adapt services to Indigenous realities, traditions and desire to take a 'holistic' approach to health and well-being. 

A final report and recommendations are expected sometime in 2024, said Wapachee. And will be used in negotiations with the Quebec government.