Alberta government appoints First Nation leader to child intervention panel
Gareth Hampshire | CBC News | Posted: May 8, 2017 11:04 PM | Last Updated: May 8, 2017
‘It took us a while to make sure we found the right voice’
The Alberta government has appointed a First Nation leader to its child intervention panel after facing criticism for failing to do so when the panel was first struck.
"It was identified quite early that we needed to have a First Nations voice," conceded Children's Services Minister Danielle Larivee Monday, who described the new panel member, Tyler White, as a leader with knowledge and experience.
White is a member of the Siksika First Nation, whose reserve is just northeast of Calgary. He is the CEO for Siksika Health Services and participated in Alberta's mental health review.
He was unavailable Monday for an interview and did not attend the ministerial panel meeting going on in Edmonton throughout the day. A provincial government spokesperson said White was tied up in personal matters.
The all-party panel, launched in February, is examining ways to improve Alberta's child intervention system
The panel was struck in the wake of revelations about delays in the investigation of the death of Serenity, a four-year-old Indigenous girl who died in 2014 while in kinship care.
More than half of the 73 young people who died in government care between April 1, 2014 and Dec. 31, 2016 were Indigenous. But only one member of the panel was Indigenous, a Métis member.
Opposition describes appointment as overdue
"I'm going to choose the positive side of this and say it's a good thing we've added an aboriginal voice onto the panel," said Ric McIver, the Alberta PC leader in the legislature who has been pressing for the move from the beginning of the panel's formation..
The critic for the Wildrose official Opposition, David Hanson, agreed the appointment was overdue. But it should have been made at the beginning of the panel's formation, instead of creating a misrepresentation issue at the outset, he said.
Larivee said that while White can't speak for every Indigenous person, she believes his voice will bring opinions and context the panel needs to hear.
"He won't hesitate at all to make sure that the First Nations perspective is considered every step along the way," Larivee said.
But the move was described as not going far enough by some First Nation leaders who met with the panel Monday.
Freda Alook, a councillor with the Bigstone Cree Nation in northern Alberta, said every First Nation region in Alberta should be represented instead of just one member from southern Alberta.
"Down south is way different from up north, it's so different," Alook said. "The isolation is so different and if somebody was to come to our communities up north it's way different and you'll understand."
But Larivee said with 48 First Nations in Alberta, it would be impossible to include panel representation from each one. It was a balance finding the right panel members to drive an effective review of the system, she said.
"It took us a while to make sure we found the right voice to be on the panel," she said.
Alberta's Minister of Indigenous Relations Richard Feehan said there will be lots of chances for people from other communities to share their opinions.
"First Nations people have lots of opportunity to come to the commission and talk about their points of view," he said.
Panel may hold one hearing at First Nation community
Albertans are being encouraged to make written and online submissions to the panel. But a spokesperson for Children's Services said taking the panel to an actual First Nation community to hold a hearing has not been ruled out.
On its child intervention web site, the government describes White as being highly respected for building relationships and praises him for his experience in dealing with governments.
Besides being CEO of the Siksika health services, he is also president of a First Nations health consortium, plus a past winner of the First Nations health manager award of excellence.
Larivee said White's appointment will help the panel find concrete ways to make life better for the 10,000 children receiving intervention services in Alberta.