Manitoba, First Nations leaders sign declaration pledging child welfare jurisdictional transfer

A relationship declaration pledging the transfer of jurisdiction over child welfare to Manitoba First Nations was signed by provincial and First Nation leaders on Monday.

Nearly 40 Indigenous leaders met with Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine to sign the declaration, the province said in a news release.

The declaration, signed by representatives of 27 Manitoba First Nations, says the province is "committed to contributing funds and resources to support the delivery of child and family services by First Nations to their members."

Federal Bill C-92, which affirms Indigenous nations have jurisdiction over child and family services and outlines national minimum standards of care, became law in 2020, giving Indigenous governments the opportunity to take over child welfare services, the release says.

Last year, Peguis First Nation became the first Indigenous community in Manitoba to take control of child welfare under the federal legislation.

The province says it supported that move through amendments to the Child and Family Services Act, which allowed Indigenous government bodies and CFS providers to collaborate and share information, as well as prioritize child placements with family, kin or community.

The declaration signed Monday aligns with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action, as well as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Fontaine said in the release.

In the release, Fontaine said 91 per cent of the nearly 9,000 children in care in Manitoba were Indigenous as of the end of March.

Meanwhile, Progressive Conservative MLA and families critic Lauren Stone pressed the NDP government on Monday for the results of an investigation examining a Manitoba teen's communications with CFS before she was killed in February.

In the days and months before she was killed, 17-year-old Myah-Lee Gratton had told friends and family she feared for her safety and asked to be removed from the home in Carman, Man., that she lived in with four other victims and the man now charged with murder in their deaths.

Fontaine previously said the province is reviewing all CFS contact in the case and she expected that report by the end of April.

Bernadette Smith, the minister for housing, addictions and homelessness, spoke on behalf of Fontaine in the legislature during question period on Monday. She did not say when the report on the investigation will be released.

"We want to understand what happened to Myah-Lee, why her calls to her CFS worker went to voicemail," Stone told reporters after question period.

"We're still waiting for those recommendations. If they do not become public, then I question what the minister is hiding from those recommendations."

A government spokesperson said the report will be given to the families minister by mid-May. The spokesperson added that the government cannot release the entire report, but some of the findings would be made public.