JUSTINE HUNTER
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
A newborn apprehended last month by child-protection officials is the 66th child from a small native band near Port Hardy now in government care.
Today, members of the baby girl's family hope to regain custody at a court hearing in a bid to reverse a trend that has one in eight of the band's children in government care.
"I wanted to take my own life," Blanche Walkus said yesterday, sobbing, when asked about the latest apprehension of a member of her family.
Her tiny home, like many others on the Tsulquate reserve in Port Hardy, is usually crowded. She struggles to pay the bills and had spent the past four days without heat because the power had been cut off.
But today, the house is feeling empty, with 19 of her grandchildren in government care. "It just gets so hard, my house is so quiet without my grandkids."
Ms. Walkus has cared for most of her grandchildren while her children struggle with addictions. Usually there are 15 people living in the four-bedroom house she is using. She had to give up her own home three years ago because of toxic mould and it is still not repaired.
The infant taken by the ministry was her nephew's baby and she is hoping this time, something will change.
The baby's extended family met after the apprehension. With the support of the band council, the family has issued an ultimatum to the Ministry of Children and Family Development, saying they are taking control of their children's welfare and will not give up any more of their kids without full consultation with the Gwa'Sala-'Nakwaxda'xw First Nation.
"The family is reinstituting the traditional system of caring for children using our own community values, beliefs and customs," the band council stated in a resolution last month. "In addition, we authorize our staff and council to use these same methods for all community members."
What that means, Ms. Walkus said, is that officials with the Ministry of Children and Family Development will have to cross the bridge that divides the reserve from the town and speak to the whole family before they can apprehend another child.
How this will work in practice is not clear. The Minister for Children and Family Development, Tom Christensen, said his staff is trying to work with the band to address their concerns. However, that would not stop them from apprehending children in the future.
"If we strip away everything, our obligation is to focus on the needs of the child," the minister said. "But to do that effectively, we need to work with the band."
Dennis McGill, the band manager, said housing is a major factor in the significant number of child apprehensions from his community. There are nearly 800 band members but only 102 homes on the reserve that are habitable - and just barely. Most are contaminated with black mould.
Extended families are squeezed into homes built for single families. One home has 27 people living in it, most of them children. "They literally take shifts when they take breakfast. That becomes a way of life, the kids don't even know there's something wrong with this," Mr. McGill said.
He challenged Mr. Christensen to visit the reserve. "Mister, you come and live in one of my houses, for a week or even for two days."
Yesterday, a funeral had been planned for the third stillborn baby on the reserve in just six weeks. Band members want to know whether their unhealthy homes are to blame.
Claire Trevena, the New Democratic Party MLA whose
"When you cross the bridge to the reserve, it's like entering a different country," she said. She is not questioning the judgment of child-protection workers, she said, but the issues of poverty and housing need to be addressed.