INUVIK
The GNWT's proposed changes to the Child and Family Services Act dominated the discussion at a public meeting April 28.

Winston Moses had a few comments to the members of the Standing Committee on Social Programs on the proposed changes to Bill 44 and Bill 47. The committee members held a public hearing at Ingamo Hall April 28. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo

The meeting at Ingamo Hall, led by the Standing Committee on Social Programs, was held to solicit public input on both Bill 47, which deals with children and families, and Bill 44, which would consolidate health services into one super board from the current eight regional organizations.

Inuvik Boot Lake MLA Alfred Moses, who is the chair of the committee, is leading a tour by the members and government representatives to discuss the bills.

The committee, he told the audience, oversees "four large departments including Health and Social Services" representing about 63 per cent of the GNWT budget.

"We've been having some really good discussions at the meetings already," Moses said. "Bill 47 does touch on the sensitive subject of child apprehensions. Especially in the small communities, people might speak from passion, from previous experience with Health and Social Services, or from within their own families."

He encouraged people to stay "on topic" during those discussions.

The discussion was slow to start among the smallish audience of less than 20 people, but there was no shortage of opinions once it did start rolling.

Alana Mero, a former social worker from British Columbia, had the most to say about Bill 47.

"I think these are very positive changes," she told the committee during her extensive comments. "They reflect what was done in B.C. years ago with very positive results."

Though that doesn't mean there still isn't room for improvements, she added.

Mero said one thing she would like to see is a clearly-defined limit for the time children can be left in the care of child services after apprehensions.

"What we found in B.C. is that there were some parents who weren't able or willing to basically parent their children. And what we've found is that the longer children stay in care, the more likely they are to remain in care for the rest of their lives. Having a timeline says to the parent that this is important, and here are the changes you need to make."

Winston Moses, along with Helga and Jim Sawkins, who have extensive experience as foster parents, mostly in Ontario, said the amendments to the bill also need to be focused more on the potential role that grandparents can play in the process.

"There's a very close relationship between grandparents and grandchildren," Winston told the committee members. "And it seems like there are rules that shouldn't be there."

It's common knowledge that for Northern indigenous peoples in particular, extended family such as grandparents play a huge role in raising children. It's not at all uncommon for grandparents to outright raise their grandchildren, or at least be deeply involved.

That's the kind of cultural sensitivity that needs to be shown by the government, Winston said.

Helga said it's "very important" to keep children with grandparents, and by extension, other family members if possible.

The government needs to recognize that benefits of those familial ties and encourage it, she added but it must also take into account the financial stresses that involvement can also cause.

While most grandparents would be willing to take in their grandchildren if necessary, many aren't in a position where they can easily afford to do so.

If the government were to provide some avenues for assistance in those circumstance, it would ease the stress and burden tremendously, she said.

Jim was less complimentary about the proposed changes.

"It seems like we're trying to reinvent the wheel," he said bluntly.

The committee will continue touring the communities before its findings are submitted to the GNWT for future consideration and debate.

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