FSIN wants Indigenous kids in Indigenous care, says gov. isn’t helping

“Saskatchewan First Nations are ready to take over and to assert that jurisdiction and to bring our children home to our communities,” said David Pratt, vice-chief with the Federation of Saskatchewan Indigenous Nations (FSIN).

He’s pushing to have the provincial government hand jurisdiction of all the Indigenous children in social services’ care over to Indigenous groups.

According to data from social services, in 2017, 72 per cent of children in government care in Saskatchewan were Indigenous. The numbers also showed a steady rise in the percentage over the previous four years.

Pratt quoted Jane Philpott, former federal Minister of Indigenous Services, saying the number of Indigenous kids in care is a humanitarian crisis.

Pratt also pulled out numbers showing a large number of kids in care end up dropping out of school, and his supposition that many of them end up in the criminal justice system.

He said he believes keeping the kids close to their families, their homes, and their culture will help. Pratt said non-Indigenous people can’t provide Indigenous culture.

“That would be like First Nations getting jurisdiction over Hindu children. Well, what the hell would the FSIN know about how to implement Hindu culture to children,” said Pratt.

There is a federal bill making its way through the House of Commons on child welfare reform. It would reportedly do what Pratt is asking for, hand jurisdiction of Indigenous children to Indigenous entities.

Pratt wants the province to work with the FSIN to do that now, saying the only role he wants the government to have is figuring out how to make the transition. Pratt said he’s been bending over backward to work with the government, but he said the province is dragging its feet.

“When the Premier and the minister get on the floor of the legislature, saying ‘we’re working with our partners at FSIN’, well, damn it, I work there and I have yet to see it in my office except a couple times.”

Pratt accused the government of trying to keep the status quo so it can keep social workers and social services jobs.

“The numbers (of kids in care) has gone up and those numbers aren’t going down. Something has to change and status quo cannot continue,” he said.

Social Services Minister Paul Merriman disagrees; he said the province has made major strides forward with First Nations communities. He pointed to a recent agreement signed with the Saskatoon Tribal Council.

Merriman said the province wants to make sure kids have a connection to their culture, and that the government is working with FSIN groups to do things like find foster homes or “persons of sufficient interest” for the kids on reserve.

“Whether they’re on or off reserve, we want to make sure that that child has contact with their culture, with their community, and with any extended family members,” said Merriman.

Merriman said social services never wants to take kids into care — that it’s a last resort.

“We have to put the child in the centre of this and all work towards what is going to be in that child’s best interest.”

When Merriman was asked if the government wants to hand over jurisdiction, Merriman said he wants to see what happens with the federal bill on child welfare reform to see if it enhances Saskatchewan’s agreements with Indigenous groups or undermines them. He said he hopes it will be discussed at an interprovincial meeting next week.