
YOUR PERSPECTIVE: MLA Maahs says foster parenting should always be about a child’s well-being
Has the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) completely lost interest in upholding the best interests of children when it comes to foster parenting placements? A series of recent incidents has demonstrated how bureaucrats are choosing considerations such as ethnicity ahead of well-being, and as a result, children are being shifted around like political pawns.
Here’s a story that I recently became aware of about a couple who have been fostering children in their home with a spotless record over 16 years. They recently took in a child who was three days old and raised her according to all the ministry edicts and mandates to respect and uphold her Metis heritage.
Over six years, they lived a blissful family life, with the child simultaneously being fully knowledgeable of her roots through cultural education, events and ongoing workshops. Not only did she have loving parents, but she was also showered with love by two older foster brothers.
Yet four days before the child’s sixth birthday, she was removed by a social worker following a swimming lesson, without any forewarning. There was no opportunity to say goodbye provided to the family or the little girl.