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Man says he’s father of newborn seized in hospital by Manitoba social workers

Feb 6, 2019 | 11:53 AM

WINNIPEG — A man has come forward saying he is the father of a newborn seen in a social media video being taken from its mother by police and social workers.

A child protection hearing in Winnipeg today was adjourned for a week at a request by the man’s lawyer.

The request was relayed by a lawyer representing the First Nations child and family services agency in charge of the baby.

No participant in the hearing can be named under Manitoba law.

The video of the newborn was broadcast live on Facebook by the woman’s uncle in January, and First Nations leaders have said it shows a child-welfare system biased against Indigenous people.

In the video, the mother is sitting in a Winnipeg hospital bed cradling the two-day-old baby and crying before social workers and police take the child into care.

Statistics from the Manitoba government show that newborn apprehensions occur, on average, about once a day and that about 90 per cent of kids in care are Indigenous.

The Canadian Press

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