Saskatchewan’s advocate for children and youth has joined his provincial counterparts in calling on the federal government to take a more active role to reduce the high number of Aboriginal children that end up in the care of social services.
Bob Pringle says it is a national tragedy and a violation of children’s rights.
He says it’s time the federal government took some action.
“We are talking about the lack of any leadership of all, in our view, of their role in child welfare,” he says.
Pringle says it all boils down to poverty in the Aboriginal community.
He says that is the number one human rights issue in Saskatchewan and Canada and it is time Aboriginal poverty is recognized by the federal government.
He says two-thirds of Saskatchewan’s Aboriginal children live in poverty.
Pringle also says 80 per cent of the children that end up in the child welfare system are Aboriginal and most come from low income homes.
He says the province is making some progress in reducing the number of Indigenous children living in poverty but the federal government has not stepped up to the plate.
“What have they been doing? They have been saying this is a provincial responsibility.”
Among the recommendations from the Canadian Council of Child and Youth Advocates is that the federal government set up a national children’s commissioner independent of Parliament and a national plan with input from Aboriginal leaders and the provinces be developed to improve the outcome of Indigenous children who end up in the child care system.