Ex-Peguis leader disputes current chief's call to scrap First Nation’s child-welfare system

The office that oversees baby welfare in Peguis number one carry nation released figures this hebdomad suggesting a system brokered through a historic 2023 agreement is working well — contrary to calls by the community's chief to scrap the "failing" arrangement due to oversight concerns.

That characterization by Peguis Chief Dr. Stan Bird is something his predecessor disputes.

"We don't need to rewrite the agreements or cancel the agreements or terminate it, as Chief Bird says. We just need to collaborate."

Last week, Bird held a news conference alongside Southern Chiefs' Organization Grand Chief Jerry Daniels calling for the once-lauded agreement to be terminated. 

Bird suggested the new system is "failing us at every level" as he underscored the need for improved independent oversight to help protect children and families.

In 2023 under Hudson's leadership, Peguis became the first Indigenous community in Manitoba to sign a co-ordination agreement with the federal and provincial governments that transferred child welfare authority to Peguis.

Peguis Child and Family Services was formed as part of the deal.

That was made possible under federal Bill C-92, passed in 2019, which gave Indigenous communities the authority to take over local child welfare.

Three days after Chief Bird's recent remarks, Peguis CFS published a statement on its website saying the system is "working amazingly." 

The letter touts data that suggests the vast majority of children who might have previously been subject to past colonial legislation and government CFS systems have instead been diverted into culturally appropriate settings with family or loved ones.

The letter says the number of children coming into care dropped by 80 per cent in the past four years; 99 per cent of the 222 children in care in Peguis reside with family; and 97 per cent living off-reserve are in similar familial arrangements.

The agency also appears to have published or updated various pages on its website this week, including a section that details how people can lodge complaints with the agency's quality assurance co-ordinator.

Hudson believes if Peguis leadership has concerns they should be worked out with Peguis CFS, and the agreement should remain intact. He claimed some current Peguis council members don't want to scrap the arrangement.

"It was a historic agreement in terms of us finally gaining control and jurisdiction and the authority through practising our sovereignty over our children, families and our community outcomes," Hudson said. 

"Today, under this agreement, there are no external entities that can intervene or take our children away, unlike years past [with] residential schools, Sixties Scoop or even when the province held jurisdiction on CFS. This decision-making authority now lies with the Peguis Child and Family Services and the best outcomes of our children and family."

Hudson said there were "at least a dozen community meetings" where Peguis members were able to provide input on the change before the 2023 agreement was finalized.  

He is also actively seeking to have results of the previous election, which he lost to Bird, overturned.

His appeal of a Federal Court decision, which upheld Bird's 2023 election win, will be heard by the Federal Court of Appeal. A hearing date hasn't yet been determined. 

A spokesperson for Manitoba Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine's office said says she and Bird are scheduled to meet next Wednesday to discuss his concerns.

He repeated that the agreement is "flawed" and suggested community members did not have adequate say in the original decision.

"The co-ordination agreement has to be renegotiated to ensure that there's safeguards for our children and for our families. There has to be oversight, there has to be accountability, there has to be quality assurance," Bird said.

"If our children and families are denied, or a decision is made that affects them, how do they appeal that decision, how do they report their concerns, and how are these concerns addressed by an independent body. These things are not in place yet."

Bird pointed to the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth (MACY), led by Sherry Gott, as an example of an independent agency charged with child welfare oversight in Manitoba.

"If we look at what's in place right now when there's a grievance or issue … MACY gets involved," Bird said. "Right now there's no one there to do that for our kids, for our families, so we need an external, independent review mechanism."

Last month, she said there needs to be greater oversight, with children placed with family or loved ones in kinship-style arrangements still subject to routine check ups.

Like Gott, Manitoba Foster Parent Association president Jamie Pfau supports kinship and customary care models. 

She said Peguis's arrangement has served as "guiding star of self-government," and that she also shares Bird's concerns about the need for more oversight.

"We have been hearing concerns of foster parents … that children in Peguis were phoning MACY and were told, 'We don't have jurisdiction,'" Pfau said. 

"We don't know what's been going on behind closed doors, but I would imagine for a chief to hold a press conference about this in such a heartbreaking way that he did this to protect children and families in his community," Pfau said.

"I think Chief Stanley Bird would have much rather dealt with this in-house, probably has tried, and, for whatever reason, it's just not working."

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