Charles Evans Hughes, one of the great names in America’s judicial history, remains the only person twice appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. His remarkable resume — lawyer, governor, secretary
WINNIPEG The Southern Chiefs Organization (SCO) is speaking out after a report by the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth found that child maltreatment deaths continue to be a significant concern in the province. SCO Grand Chief Jerry Daniels is calling on the provincial government to immediately prioritize the implementation of the five recommendations from the report. The report comes years after the death of Phoenix Sinclair, a five-year-old indigenous girl who spent time in foster care before she was abused and killed by her mother and step-father in 2005. Her death sparked an inquiry, leading to 62 recommendations on improving the child welfare system, released in 2014.
Nothing that is said today can change the fate of Amanda Simpson, Savannah Hall, Rowen Von Niederhausern and Serena Wiebe. In the words of the province’s Representative for Children and Youth Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond the system failed them.
However, as Turpel-Lafond stressed throughout her report on the deaths of those four children, simple finger pointing is not what the report is about. The report is about identifying deficiencies in the child welfare system and then enacting change. The report is also about praising the front-line social workers who have a truly stressful and, at times, heart-wrenching occupation.
If anyone thinks it is easy to make the decision to apprehend a child or, conversely, leave a child in a home where there have been problems in the past, take a moment and walk a mile in their moccasins.