Across the Nation, June 2002

Alberta

Edmonton

The Samson First Nation is reinstated its jurisdiction over child welfare after Children’s Services Minister Iris Evans issued a ministerial order to strip the band’s Kasohkowew Child Wellness Society of its authority. The move came after the death of a 10-month old boy, who accidentally drowned in a bathtub, was found to be one of seven foster children to die under the band’s authority over the past two years. Advisor to the Samson Band Mel Buffalo says members do not approve of children being sent to off-reserve homes. In April, the fatality inquiry into the death of Korvette Lynn Crier, an Aboriginal child killed by her foster mother in an unaccredited and unlicensed foster home in Red Deer, reports that the province’s flawed foster care system may have contributed to her death. Many believe that strict government rules makes it difficult for Aboriginal foster children to be place with members of their own extended family.