Leaders of a Saskatchewan First Nation are in Vancouver to launch plans to take over control of child welfare services for its members.
It comes as the Key First Nation sent a letter to Premier David Eby expressing 鈥渉eartbreak and outrage鈥� at the loss of one of its teenage members while she was in British Columbia鈥檚 child welfare system.
The nation says it chose to start consultations in Vancouver to honour Noelle O鈥橲oup, a 13-year-old member of its nation who disappeared from a B.C. group home in 2021 and whose remains were found in the city nearly a year later.
The letter says the nation has grave concerns about the B.C. government鈥檚 inaction on the teen鈥檚 disappearance and death, and it calls on the government to address systemic failures that compromised the girl鈥檚 safety and her family鈥檚 access to information.
The girl鈥檚 body was found inside a Downtown Eastside rooming house and while the tenant of the room was found dead inside in February of last year, officers initially missed the remains of O鈥橲oup and another woman, who were also in the room.
The letter to Eby says the disparity between outcomes for Indigenous and non-Indigenous children in government care that led to this tragic outcome needs to be identified and changed.
The federal government changed the law in 2020, allowing Indigenous communities to exercise jurisdiction over child and family services while Ottawa established national minimum standards.
Indigenous children are disproportionately overrepresented in B.C.鈥檚 child and family services system, comprising less than 10 per cent of the child population yet representing 68 per cent of the children in care.
The letter says there was a concerning lack of transparency from law enforcement and the BC Coroners Service, leaving O鈥橲oup鈥檚 family and the nation with many unanswered questions.
鈥淎s Chief and Council, we are taking our first steps to assert our natural jurisdiction of our children,鈥� the letter says. 鈥淲e no longer have faith in (the ability of governments across Canada) to protect our children, who are our future.鈥�
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