The Saskatchewan government is taking back responsibility for the care of children from the Saskatoon Tribal Council Child and Family Services. Social Services Minister Donna Harpauer said the tribal council has repeatedly refused the ministry access to files for children it serves on reserve.
Harpauer said that means the government has no idea how many children are being cared for or what kind of care they’re receiving.
“I’m hoping that they are getting a very good level of care, but I want to be assured,” Harpauer told reporters Tuesday at the legislature in Regina.
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First Nations agencies are required to monitor and track children in care on reserve and report back to the Ministry of Social Services. The province has what are called delegation agreements with 15 of 17 First Nations agencies.
The Yorkton and the Saskatoon tribal councils have refused to sign new agreements.
However, according to the latest report from the provincial auditor, the Yorkton council is working with the ministry and submits monthly reports on children in its care.
The Saskatoon council is not submitting those monthly reports.
Provincial auditor Judy Ferguson said last week that “without access to all files relating to children in care, the ministry cannot determine if children are properly cared for and protected.”
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Harpauer says there has not been consistent reporting since 2008 and the province has been working in a void “most of time.”
“It’s not just how many kids,” Harpauer said.
“With the other agreements and the other agencies that we work with, the other 16 agencies, they allow our quality assurance to go in the agency, randomly take files and ensure that the level of care is to the provincial standard because we believe that all children are entitled to the same level of care in our province.”
“They will not allow our officials to do that with the files on reserve. They will not allow the children’s advocate to access the files on reserve.”
Harpauer says years of trying to negotiate a new deal between the province and the tribal council have reached an impasse.
Federal funding also expired in March.
Harpauer says officials plan to go to the Saskatoon Tribal Council office on Wednesday to get the files and, if that doesn’t work, the province will have to go through the courts.
“I’m trying to be very optimistic, but I won’t be shocked if they chose not to (share the files),” Harpauer said.
The Saskatoon Tribal Council has seven member nations within a 200-kilometre radius of Saskatoon.
A call to the office for comment was not immediately returned.
Harpauer said the decision was not taken lightly.
“It is not about politics, or jurisdiction. It is about the safety and well-being of vulnerable children, and that must be our primary concern,” she said.
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