Nunavut MLA says auditor general report shows territory is failing children in its care

A Nunavut MLA says the territory is abandon‐ ing children in its care, and that a lack of govern‐ ment resources is no ex‐ cuse.

The comments by Janet Pitsiulaaq Brewster, MLA for Iqaluit-Sinaa, come in re‐ sponse to a scathing report is‐ sued by Auditor General Karen Hogan on Tuesday.

That report found that the territory inadequately re‐ sponded to reports of sus‐ pected harm to children in care, did not complete many investigations, did not suffi‐ ciently monitor the welfare of children in care, failed to meet obligations for the health and safety of employees, and could not provide accurate numbers of children in its care.

Pitsiulaaq Brewster said the first step the territory needs to take now is to deter‐ mine how many children are in its care.

"I'm very concerned about the safety of those children in care, especially for the safety of those children who have been removed from the terri‐ tory. If they're not being tracked, where are they?" she said.

After the report was tabled, Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok said in a news re‐ lease that the department of Executive and Intergovern‐ mental Affairs would establish an audit and support function and develop a performance accountability framework.

"Children are the future of our territory. As Premier, and as a father, I am deeply dis‐ heartened by [the auditor general's] report that says the delivery of child and family services in Nunavut is in a cri‐ sis state," he said.

Pitsiulaaq Brewster said Akeeagok's response disap‐ pointed her.

"He gave no details on what that 'whole-of-govern‐ ment' approach would be," she said.

"It just seems that the gov‐ ernment is kind of throwing their hands up and saying, 'we don't have the resources so we can't do it.'

"The bottom line is that children's safety is at risk." More federal resources Lori Idlout, Nunavut's MP, said the auditor general's re‐ port shows the territory is in need of more federal re‐

sources.

"It's a very drastic message from the auditor general," Idlout said.

"I think immediate action needs to take place so that the government of Nunavut and in turn the federal gov‐ ernment are doing better to protect Inuit and Indigenous children."

Idlout said she feels the territorial government does not have the resources to ad‐ dress the immediate needs pointed out in the report. She said she plans to speak with Akeeagok about what the territory needs and to then meet with federal cabi‐ net ministers to discuss im‐ plementation.

Idlout said that although it's concerning, the report does have a silver lining.

"The auditor general's re‐ port does give me hope that it's not just Inuit who have been saying this, it's not just Nunavummiut who have been saying this — to hear it from her specifically points to the fact that this really is an urgent matter that needs to be addressed immediately," she said.

The report also called for more collaboration between the government and Inuit or‐ ganizations.

Radio-Canada asked sever‐ al times for an interview with

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. about the report, but did not receive a response by dead‐ line.

12 years later

Jane Bates, who's with Nunavut's Representative for Children and Youth Office (RCYO), said the auditor gen‐ eral's report is infuriating as its highlights issues that have been known for over a decade.

"My anger has stemmed from, this is not something that's new," she said.

"It should never have got‐ ten to this place."

An auditor general report in 2011 highlighted many of the same issues and a fol‐ lowup report in 2014 found they still hadn't been ad‐ dressed.

Bates herself has prepared reports sounding the alarm on the state of child and fami‐ ly services.

Unlike most auditor gener‐ al reports, there were no rec‐ ommendations included in the one released Tuesday. This came as past recommen‐ dations, from 2011 and 2014, haven't been implemented.

Rather than giving formal recommendations, the report called for an immediate whole-of-government ap‐ proach to address the chal‐ lenges.

Bates said she has mixed feelings about that proposed approach, but overall is just hopeful concrete action will come from the report's find‐ ings.

"There's been numerous action plans, there's been nu‐ merous reports, there's been numerous recommendations made to this department, largely saying all the same things," she said.

Bates said the failure of child and family services can have affects on individuals that last their whole life.

"When children experience child abuse and neglect… then it directly impacts their life going forward," she said.

"The high suicide rate in the North can be directly con‐ nected to child adversity."