REGINA The Saskatchewan government announced on Monday it will put an end to birth alerts at the beginning of February. The practice saw pregnant women – mostly First Nations – flagged as unfit to care for their newborns before giving birth. This allowed the Ministry of Social Services to be notified when the baby was born, which could lead to the newborn’s apprehension. Minister of Social Services Lori Carr said going forward, the ministry will be working with community partners to find ways to better support expecting parents. “Our ultimate goal is to work a lot closer with our community-based organizations, because sometimes these mothers already have an existing relationship with them, and try to be a little more proactive at the front end so that something like that doesn’t happen within a hospital setting,” said Carr.
Regina / 980 CJME
Jan 27, 2021 12:43 PM
Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Mark Arcand speaks to reporters at TCU Place on Nov. 15, 2017. (Bryn Levy/650 CKOM)
As of next Monday, the Province of Saskatchewan will be discontinuing the practice of birth alerts.
Birth alerts are notifications that would be sent to a mother’s file prior to labour if the mother was deemed by case workers or hospital staff as unfit to care for her child. The child then could be seized by officials from the Ministry of Social Services.
The discontinuation of the practice aligns with recommendations from the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Inquiry, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and the federal Indigenous child welfare legislation, according to a statement by Janice Colquhoun, executive director Indigenous Services with Child and Family Programs at the ministry.
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Jamesy Patrick, acting executive director of Sanctum Care Group in Saskatoon, said the question now is whether new services are introduced. Sanctum has lobbied for the creation of a prenatal case management team in Saskatchewan.
Don Meikle, executive director of EGADZ in Saskatoon, hopes it will mark a fresh start.
“Now is an opportunity to change the way we all do business and focus more on prevention and intervention than putting out a birth alert to say ‘this is a bad parent,’ ” he said.
Arcand said the Saskatoon Tribal Council hopes to work closely with the government on new services to support vulnerable mothers.
Months before British Columbia officially ended the controversial practice of birth alerts, government lawyers advised the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) that the practice was “illegal and unconstitutional” and posed a “litigation risk,” according to records obtained by IndigiNews.
Months before British Columbia officially ended the controversial practice of birth alerts, government lawyers advised the Ministry of Children and Family Development that the practice was “illegal and unconstitutional."