Many kids in care because of poverty on reserves: chief

from The Edmonton Sun

Abject poverty on reserves is resulting in far too many aboriginal children being removed from their homes by child protection services, says the grand chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

And the way to fix the problem, Phil Fontaine said yesterday, is to spend another $109 million a year on child welfare programs.

The assembly will launch a human rights complaint against Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, claiming the federal funding formula for aboriginal child services amounts to systemic discrimination "simply because of their race."

"As we sit here today, approximately 27,000 First Nations children have been removed from their families, most as a result of poverty and neglect," Fontaine told the International Congress on Ethics, a three-day conference on ethical issues in governance.

"Many of our young people are taken from their families because of neglect, not because of physical or sexual abuse. Neglect is directly linked to abject degrees of poverty, as well as poor housing conditions and instances of alcohol and substance abuse."

Muriel Stanley-Venne, president of the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women, applauded Fontaine's move.

Fontaine maintained the answer lies in better government funding for child-welfare services, which he claimed are short-funded by 22% compared with non-aboriginals.