Province won’t release consultant report on CFS changes

WINNIPEG — The Greg Selinger government is refusing to release a report on how to make changes to the province’s embattled child welfare system.

The NDP government received but won’t make public an interim report from a consulting firm tasked with looking into half of the 62 recommendations that came out of the Hughes inquiry into the murder of Phoenix Sinclair.

“It is a snapshot in time,” said Family Services Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross, who said more work is being done by the consultants behind the scenes.

Phoenix Sinclair was five years old when she was murdered by her mother and stepfather in 2005. She had been in the care of Child and Family Services but was returned to her mother despite several warning signs that she provided an unsafe environment. CFS workers didn’t notice the child’s absence until nine months after her death.

Critics have demanded to see the consultant’s report.

“I don’t know why the minister is being so defensive of this report,” said Ian Wishart, the Progressive Conservative critic for family services. “We all want to see if progress is being made.”

Irvin-Ross did say the interim report has three themes — improving support for families, enhancing and training the CFS workforce and building relationships between CFS and communities.

The province said 31 recommendations from the Hughes report are already being implemented.

Barbara Bruce, the vice-president of AMR Planning and Consulting, said she won’t comment on what her firm has documented that needs to be changed.