Dual-Purpose Child Neglect

"Right now, it's getting worse. The cutbacks to group-care facilities is worse. We don't have the foster homes. Our population is expanding but our funding is actually decreasing, so the math isn't adding up."
"It angers me when the government waves its fist in the air and says we have the lowest corporate tax rate in North America, and there's no provincial sales tax. There's an outcome of not having revenue and it's not me, or you, who are the victims. It's this mother, sleeping in a graveyard."
Mark Cherrington, Edmonton youth worker

In Alberta, though aboriginal children represent a mere 9% of the province's children, they account for roughly 75% of those in care. That's a staggeringly disproportionate misalliance of population figures. Aboriginal children's needs are obviously greater than children in the general population outside of the reserves dedicated to 'traditional lifestyles' of Canada's First Nations. One doubts whether traditional lifestyles of aboriginals came replete with child neglect.

Mr. Cherrington was making reference to an incident he was familiar with; a 15-year-old single mother living a life of desperation, taking to sleeping in a graveyard with her baby in a carriage. A province that boasts of its low corporate tax rate encouraging of investment, but discouraging of revenue, hardly counterbalanced by the province's pride in not exacting a provincial sales tax. Easy living for those who are fortune, not so propitious for those who are not, with inadequate funds for social welfare strategies

The government has refused to mount an enquiry over the deaths of 145 children in foster care since 1999, a figure representing three times what was previously known to have occurred. And 78% of those children were aboriginal. Not all the deaths were investigated though many were held to have been from natural causes, but others weren't adequately tracked When some of those deaths were investigated, there was no monitoring procedure in place to track whether recommendations resulting from enquiries were ever implemented.

"There are thousands of successes that happen every day when a child in care is able to go to school after having a good night's sleep and breakfast in the morning. When a child gets to come home to a caregiver who's engaged in their activities and supports them to reach their potential."
Dave Hancock, Alberta Human Services Minister

That statement is true as far as it goes. But obviously more is required. Chronic underfunding of services meant to aid First Nations reserves deal with the problem of unmet children's needs, of children living with substandard care from their families, care so negligent that the children are deprived of their human potential, creating problems with acting out, violence, drug and alcohol use, disinterest in education, acute depression, and extremely high rates of suicide among the young and the vulnerable.

But it is not just the funding that is deemed to be inadequate. Money alone can not and will not solve the ills of dysfunctional families, and corrupt band councils administering revenue on behalf of the reserves. Situation that are depressingly prevalent within First Nations reserves. There are no solutions that seem to come readily to mind, to shock aboriginals out of their welfare dependence that leaves them disinterested in a life that is without individual challenges to advance self-interest through self-motivation.

The dreadful truth is, Canada is itself dysfunctional under the dreadful weight of failure to solve the dilemma of First Nations' dissatisfactions and demands. Treaties that have never been honoured and carried through to completion should be the first order of business for governments and First Nations. The Assembly of First Nations should be prepared to encourage its charges to become responsible and disciplined to succeeding in life and in the process grooming their children with love and support to take their rightful place in their country.

Both governments and First Nations Chiefs seem regrettably attached to continuing the status quo of funding of reserves and encouraging residents to remain there, isolated, unemployed, incompetent, disinterested parents, levelling accusations and counter-accusations, agreements that fail to meet expectations, exasperation and blame levelled at one another.

The AFN should begin through surrendering its love affair with managing tribal reserves and First Nations affairs in the image they wish to preserve, because it hasn't worked, it isn't working and it will not work.