Sudbury region chiefs unite on child welfare issues

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Leaders from the United Chiefs and Councils of Manitoulin and the Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve participated in a three-day child welfare conference April 30 to May 2. The event held in Aundeck Omni Kaning (formerly Sucker Creek) was organized to attract more First Nations foster homes.

Chief Patrick Madahbee, master of ceremonies for the assembly, welcomed First Nations family services workers and Children's Aid representatives from as far north as Moosonee and as far south as London.

"Child welfare is perhaps the highest priority issue facing First Nations across Canada," he said.

"Economic development doesn't mean anything unless you take care of the children. For too long, outside agencies and third-party service has been a fact of our lives. Today we are here to open up dialogue on the issues and give community members a chance to express themselves.

"We are committed to taking a very proactive approach to child welfare in our community," Madahbee said. "Our motto is 'taking care of our future'. We need to give our extended families the capacity to take on the responsibility of caring for our precious resource and not allow outside agencies to come in. Outside agencies don't have the answers."

Madahbee stressed that the forum was not designed "to point fingers at individual workers." He acknowledged the presence of CAS workers, assuring them "no one is here to hurt anyone's feelings; we're here to let each other know what is on each other's minds. We are here to create an understanding."

Chief Frank Paibomsai of the Whitefish River First Nation joined Chief Madahbee in calling for a new direction. "I will be a strong advocate of Kina Gbezhgomi," he pledged. "I'll start opening the doors of dialogue. I am going to bridge with the families of Whitefish River to take us to a new level of wellness that will drive out external forces."

"We need some creativity to achieve vibrant communities," he said. "The challenge is in front of us and it looks like a mountain, but I think it can be bounded over easily. Ultimately, it is love that will move the CAS away from us, not legislation."

"It has taken the children to motivate the chiefs to work together," Chief Walter Manitowabi of Wikwemikong added. "The responsibility for the well-being of our children rests within our communities."

Shocked by the caseload in CAS care, Manitowabi has pledged to give the crisis full attention. "My position and that of Wikwemikong council is that if a child is in need of protection, then that child will get protection. No more children will be removed from my community. Why should a child be removed from his or her extended family? The bottom line is we need community support to deal with this situation," he said.

Zhiibaahaasing First Nation Chief Irene Kells made an emotional appeal for understanding of children's needs. "What does the CAS think it is doing when it comes into our community?" she asked. "They follow a piece of paper like it was the Bible; there's no feeling, no heart in that paper. No one can convince me that taking children away from mommy and daddy and their community is the best thing for the kids. Don't you dare say that to me.

"You have no authority here (in Zhiibaahaasing)," she stated. "I am the authority here. No CAS worker will come in here and tell me where the kids are going. If there's a grandmother there who can take care of that child, then no Tom, Dick or Mary in Little Current or Sudbury will take that child. When we say no CAS worker will take our kids, we mean what we say."

In closing, Kells said, "I hope CAS can work with us a lot better and can have more feelings for our people. Work with us; there is no need for us to be fighting. These are not commodities; these are our children, little children who don't understand what's going on."

Joe Hare, former chief of M'Chigeeng, represented his brother, current chief Glen Hare on the panel. In his view, First ations "need to find a way arund agencies that inhibit and hinder and make impossible the kind of care we want to provide for our children. We need to pass our own child welfare bylaws and put up our own money to fund havens for kids," he said.

After 20 years of working for band control of child welfare decisions, Hare advised, "Don't depend on others; do it locally. We want to force the recognition of our own band-created laws. We have the inherent right and the jurisdiction to decide how children will be taken care of."

In the past, he said, "We lost our children to the residential schools, to reform schools and to penal institutions. So we know what we have to do. Eventually our First Nations system will be more beneficial than the existing CAS system."

Kashechewan Deputy Chief Derek Stephen travelled to the Manitoulin forum on behalf of Payukotanyo Child and Family Services. The agency, with its head office in Moosonee, serves six communities and employs 20 workers.

"The one thing that stood out for me today is the fact that we have to do our part as chief and council," he said. "We have to collaborate and communicate with the workers in our community. We have to try harder to understand their mandate as they work with the children in our community."

"One of the obstacles we have to overcome is to stop fighting with one another and stop trying to figure out who is right and who is wrong," he said. "We have to learn to work together for the benefit of the children."