While details are still scant, the federal government announced on Nov. 30 that it will overhaul the way child and family services are delivered to Indigenous peoples across the country early next year.
Gwich’in Tribal Council Grand Chief Bobbie Jo Greenland-Morgan said an Indigenous-run child welfare system would give children the best opportunities to succeed in life"A pillar of the legislation will be the right to self-determination of Indigenous peoples to freely determine their laws, policies and practices in relation to Indigenous child and family services," stated the news release
The Gwich’in Tribal Council was one of many Indigenous groups across Canada that was consulted last year on the prospect of this legislation, which is being co-developed by the Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and the Métis National Council.
"We are certainly operating in a system that is not reflecting the Gwich’in way at all in many ways," said Gwich’in Tribal Council Grand Chief Bobbie Jo Greenland-Morgan. "We need to change this."
Greenland-Morgan said the way child welfare and family services are delivered is integral to the health and well-being of her people.
She said the GTC "strongly supports" the thrust of the legislation, in giving more control over programs and funding related to child and family services, adding that it’s an important part of building a nation-to-nation relationship between the Gwich’in Nation and Canada.
The Gwich’in need to have more control over designing and implementing child and family services, including foster care, she said, to build a healthy nation for its people.
"Culturally appropriate and adequately funded programs are needed. Gwich’in need to be in control of developing these culturally appropriate programs."
Greenland-Morgan said the GTC wants to help change the system in ways that focus on the root causes behind the over representation of Indigenous children in foster care in Canada – 52.2 per cent of children in foster care in private homes in Canada are Indigenous but only 7.7 per cent of children in the country are Indigenous.
"We want to help change the system so that we not only see less children in foster care, but more importantly we want to be part of a system that is focused on the root causes of the cycles and to help individuals heal, help families heal and help our communities and nation as a whole begin to heal," said Greenland-Morgan.
"If we can do this, then we will be achieving one of the ultimate goals of preventing our children from being in foster care in the first place and helping our families to stay together and to be on the road to healthy and positive living that everyone deserves."
Territorial cabinet spokesperson Charlotte Digness said the GNWT agrees with Canada’s intention in this announcement but can’t yet tell how it will change the way child and family services are delivered in the territory, as no provinces or territories have yet seen a draft of the proposed legislation.
The Department of Health and Social Services did not provide an update by press time on what changes have taken place in territorial child and family services since an Auditor General of Canada report was released in October, which found serious issues with how these services were delivered in the NWT.
A federal government spokesperson said no more details on the legislation are available as a draft won’t be ready until early next year.
Inuvialuit Regional Corporation chair and CEO Duane Smith was not available for an interview by press time. The IRC was another NWT organization the federal government consulted on this idea.
"We don’t want any more band-aid solutions," said Greenland-Morgan. "We want real solutions and more action for prevention. As my late grandmother Ellen often told us, 'Don’t repeat mistakes; learn from them and do better.' All governments need to do that: Learn and do better, stop repeating mistakes."