Saskatchewan First Nation says B.C. willing to keep talking to resolve concern

Leaders of Saskatchewan’s Key First Nation say they held a “productive discussion” with senior officials from British Columbia and have agreed to keep talking about critical outstanding issues.

The First Nation released a statement one day after a news conference in Vancouver that outlined its first steps to control its own child welfare services.

Vancouver was selected because the First Nation is still waiting for answers from B.C. about 13-year-old Noelle “Elli” O’Soup, a Key First Nation member who disappeared from a B.C. group home and was found dead a year later.

The statement says the Key First Nation chief and council met with Attorney General Niki Sharma and Children and Family Development Minister Mitzi Dean and all sides agreed to continue work toward a joint strategy to address important issues.

Chief Clinton Key says he and council are “cautiously optimistic” about talks with the province.

He says the nation remains dedicated to protecting its children and hopes B.C. will work with it “in a good way” to achieve meaningful action on child welfare reform.

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Indigenous children are disproportionately overrepresented in B.C.’s 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.

O’Soup’s 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’Soup and a woman, who was also in the room.

The Vancouver Police Department has told Global News that the circumstances of O’Soup’s death remain under investigation and the cause of her death is still unknown.

With files from Global News