NDP calls out Sask Party over child welfare system
The opposition is calling out the Sask Party and expressing concern over the high rate of Indigenous children in the child welfare system.
NDP Deputy Leader Carla Beck and First Nations and Mé tis Relations critic Buckley Belanger both called for the government to address their concerns.
“The Sask Party has dropped the ball on addressing the needs of Indigenous children,” Beck said. “Instead of making the changes that are needed to protect vulnerable children in care, they have failed to deliver on the comprehensive reform they promised back in 2010.”
According to a press release issued by the NDP, between 2013 and 2017 the number of children in care rose from 4,492 to 5,212. In the same period of time the number of Indigenous children in the system increased five per cent. The number of Indigenous children who died in the child welfare system rose from 62 per cent to 79 per cent.