Campers unhappy with response to action list
Protesters say reply to call for changes to child-welfare system shows disconnect
Protesters at the Justice for Our Stolen Children camp in Regina are unsatisfied with the provincial government’s response to their concerns.
The protest camp, marked now by 14 teepees located across the parking lot from the Legislative Building, was set up in February after two men were acquitted of charges in the deaths of two young Indigenous people, Colten Boushie in Saskatchewan and Tina Fontaine in Manitoba.
Supporters say the goal has been to start a conversation with the provincial government to address issues like the over-representation of Indigenous children in the foster-care system and inequality in the justice system.
Earlier this month, members of the protest camp outlined their list of “concrete and actionable items” for the province to take and both parties met on July 2 in Fort Qu’appelle.
The list of items the campers want addressed dealt largely with Social Services and the foster care system. There is a call to review all permanent wards and all long-term wards. It calls for the province to demonstrate the use of in-home supervision in lieu of apprehensions. A call for a moratorium on all adoptions and a stop to any planned expansions within the foster care system is also included.
Last Friday, the province responded to the requests from the campers, largely by outlining the actions they are currently taking in relation to the issues, such as foster care, that were raised.
On Tuesday campers characterized the response as evidence the province is happy with the status quo.
“The narrative that we’re getting and the stories that are coming into camp and coming out of camp are totally contradictory (to what the government is doing),” said Gaylene Henry, one of the camp supporters.
Robyn Pitawanakat said there is a “massive disconnect” between what the province says they are doing and what is being seen at the ground level, particularly as it relates to child and family services within the foster care system.
Ira Mcarthur, chief of Pheasant Rump Nakota Nation, said the provincial response was “pretty disappointing ” because it showed an unwillingness of the government to deal with the primary issues being raised by camp members.
He noted there continues to be an increase in the number of children taken into the foster care system.
Edmund Bellegarde, chief of the File Hills Qu’appelle Tribal Council, continued on that theme. He said public policy and the framework around it need to change in Saskatchewan, arguing if it was working there would not be a disproportionate number of Indigenous people in foster care or correctional institutions.
Despite making up roughly 14 per cent of the population, the majority of children in care and people locked up in Saskatchewan are First Nations.
“This is not working,” he said. “Effective public policy aligns with the public that it’s serving. The public system is failing First Nations people in this province.”