More than half of kids in care are Indigenous
• A Winnipeg mother says she was scarred for life when her first child was taken away at birth by social workers, who told her she was unfit to parent her newborn daughter because she was just 17 at the time.
“I don't know how one could fully heal from that trauma,” said the woman, now 41, whom The Canadian Press has agreed not to identify because of her family's involvement in the child welfare system. “Having a baby taken away from birth ... the bond is broken.”
New census data suggests Indigenous children continue to be overrepresented in the child welfare system.
Statistics Canada released data from the 2021 census showing Indigenous children accounted for 53.8 per cent of all children in foster care.
This has gone up slightly from the 2016 census, which found 52.2 per cent of children in care under the age of 14 were Indigenous. At the time, only about eight per cent of kids that age in Canada were Indigenous.
More than three per cent of Indigenous children living in private households in 2021 were in foster care compared to the 0.2 per cent of non-indigenous children. Nationally, Indigenous children accounted for 7.7 per cent of all children 14 years of age and younger.
Statistics Canada says because of difficulties in collecting census data on First Nations and other Indigenous communities, some caution should be exercised in comparing census years.
In recent years there has been a significant push from Indigenous leaders and child welfare advocates across the country to address the myriad systemic issues contributing to the overrepresentation of Indigenous children in care.
But experts say factors like colonialism, chronic
underfunding of child welfare systems, discriminatory practices and poverty remain.
The latest release of census data shows the Indigenous population is still growing, although the pace has slowed, and is much younger than the rest of Canada.
The census said there were 1.8 million Indigenous people, making up five per cent of the total population in Canada.
The Indigenous population grew by 9.4 per cent from 2016 to 2021, which is faster than the non-indigenous population but not as rapid as it has been in years past.
Statistics Canada also found that Indigenous people were much more likely to live in a low-income household.
Mary Teegee, executive director of Carrier Sekani Family Services in British Columbia, said generations of children have been ripped from their parents through the residential school system and the Sixties Scoop, and are being raised without the support of their families, culture or communities.
This has contributed to addictions, mental health issues and trauma, she added.
“This isn't just because Indigenous people can't
GENERATION AFTER GENERATION OF ATTACKS ON FAMILY, CLASS AND NATION STRUCTURES.
take care of their children. It's because of generation after generation of attacks on family, class and nation structures.”
Justin Trudeau's Liberal government introduced Indigenous child welfare legislation in 2019 and it came into force in 2020.
The legislation is supposed to affirm the rights of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples to exercise jurisdiction over child and family services with the goal of reducing the number of Indigenous children in care.
Experts say it's too soon to tell what effect the legislation will have on reducing the number of Indigenous kids in care.