Tansi Nîtôtemtik,
The Watchful, but Loving Mother Bear, artwork by Jason Carter. Retrieved from: http://bearclawgallery.com/artists/jason-carter/.
Following yesterday’s post covering the federal government’s introduction of Bill C-92, today we will look at legislation a little closer to home. Bill 22, An Act for Strong Families Building Stronger Communities[1] was introduced by Alberta’s NDP government late last year, officially coming into force on February 28, 2019. In its introduction, the NDP government explained its purpose in helping to address the current overrepresentation of Indigenous children in care, stating:
…[f]or too long, past governments have not only failed to put families first, they failed to work closely with Indigenous communities. We know that Indigenous children and families are overrepresented in our child intervention system and the changes we’re bringing in Bill 22 – along with the work we’ve been doing over the last three years – start to correct those historic wrongs. We know that there’s more work for us to do but this new bill makes practical, overdue changes that clarify necessary steps to keep children safe, supported and connected to their community so they can grow into healthy, thriving adults. [2]
The call for changes to Alberta’s Child Youth and Family Enhancement Act (CYFEA) stem from discussions by Alberta’s multi party child intervention panel following the death of Serenity, a 4 year old Indigenous girl who died in kinship care in 2014.[3]
Bill 22 introduces a significant change to Alberta’s (former) legislation in terms of private guardianship. With the changes, private guardianship can no longer be sought under the Family Law Act. With all private guardianship applications now going through CYFEA, a home assessment and cultural connection plans will be mandatory for all applications, a provision absent from the Family Law Act.[4]
In addition to changes to the process to attain private guardianship, Bill 22 also amends section 53 of CYFEA to read as follows:
1.1) In addition to serving notice on the persons listed in subsection (1), if the child is a First Nation Individual or a member of a band, the applicant shall serve notice of the nature, date, time and place of the hearing of the application under section 52 not less than 30 days before the date of the hearing on the band or bands identified by a director as the band or bands of which the child is a member or is entitled to be a member.[5]
On its face, the amendment now offers First Nation Bands the opportunity to have a say in placement for children on their membership list; however, we should remain skeptical of what notice is deemed to be sufficient.
Moving forward with the amendments to CYFEA, only time will tell if these will result in meaningful changes for Indigenous children and communities. The Team nonetheless acknowledges that Bill 22 is a starting point for an overhaul of Alberta’s child welfare system, and a long road ahead remains to address the myriad of issues still present for Indigenous families.
(To read all the amendments to CYFEA, click here)
Until next time,
Team ReconciliAction YEG
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[1] Bill 22, An Act for Strong Families Building Strong Communities, 4th Sess, 29th Leg, Alberta, 2018 (assented to 28 February 2019) [Bill 22].
[2] “Fall 2018 - Bill 22: An Act for Strong Families Building Stronger Communities”, Alberta’s NDP Caucus (2018), online: <https://www.albertandpcaucus.ca/our-work/project/fall-2018-bill-22-an-act-for-strong-families-building-stronger-communities>.
[3] Greg Southam, “Bill 22 overhauls the Child, Youth, and Family Enhancement Act”, Edmonton Journal (31 October 2018), online: <https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/bill-22-overhauls-the-child-youth-and-family-enhancement-act>.
[4] Michelle Bellefontaine, “Bill closes loophole in private guardianships for Alberta kids in care”, CBC News (31 October 2018), online: <https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/bill-closes-loophole-in-private-guardianships-for-alberta-kids-in-care-1.4886593>.
[5] Bill 22, supra note 1, cl 6(b) [emphasis added].
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