Tina Fontaine Tina Fontaine's portrait sits on an end table at her aunt Thelma Favel's home on the Sagkeeng First Nation, Pine Falls Manitoba August 20, 2014. Lyle Stafford for the Globe and MailLyle Stafford/The Globe and Mail
The killings of two aboriginal children, Phoenix Sinclair and Tina Fontaine, continue to reverberate – and so they should. One essential message has sunk in with the government of Manitoba. When children are in need of protection, mere "intake" cannot be the principal task, to be followed up by their being warehoused, whether in motels or in group homes, with little supervision or guidance.
Of all the Manitoban children in care of the state, 87 per cent are aboriginal.
One terrible legacy of the residential schools was the disruption of parent-child relationships. A much-weakened family structure has cascaded through the generations.
Now, the province – in particular, Kerri Irvin-Ross, the Minister of Family Services – realizes that "ongoing services" are every bit as important as apprehending children in the first place.
Moreover, the government has realized that, for many aboriginals, family life needs to be reconstituted – not despaired of. If the vicious cycle is to be broken, social workers should do much more to help families be families, rather than trying to find substitute families.
One of the measures that Ms. Irvin-Ross has announced is a pilot project called Circle of Care, which "will assist families in working their way through difficult issues." It will be based at Sagkeeng First Nations, the home community of Tina Fontaine and other children who died while "in care," including one two-year-old.
But why just a pilot project? Of course, the government can't instantly hire a whole regiment of capable, trained social workers for numerous reserves. But it would be better to steadily put in place a whole series of such programs, rather than treating the Sagkeeng project as a mere experiment.
These and other measures – including smaller caseloads for social workers – will be costly for the province. But in the long run, doing nothing will cost far more. And Manitoba should remember that "Indians, and lands reserved for the Indians" are primarily a federal jurisdiction under the Constitution. Ottawa and Manitoba should consider a shared-cost program to relieve the continuing crisis of aboriginal family life.