OTTAWA — Enough talk about the over-representation of Indigenous kids in the child welfare system — it’s time for action, says the former chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. As chair of the TRC, Sinclair spent six years documenting Canada’s residential school legacy — a government-funded, church-operated assimilation program from the 1870s to 1996 — and issued 94 recommendations, including several involving child welfare reform that topped the list. Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott and her senior officials seem prepared to take additional steps to confront systemic failures, Sinclair said. “I think with child welfare, we are there. She reiterated that promise Tuesday as she outlined the goals of her new department and said fixing the child welfare system is her number one priority.

Source: National Post January 24, 2018 17:03 UTC