Two Nunavut mothers outline issues with Family Services' foster system
Two mothers from the same Nunavut community say the Department of Family Services have been rude and disrespectful to them.
Lily and Sophia, whose names have been changed for this story to protect the identities of their children, both told CBC News similar stories of being dismissed or kept in the dark by Child and Family Services workers, with one alleging the workers were rude and disrespectful to Inuit clients.
"We're not being treated the way a human should be treated," said Lily. "When you're not treated like a human being and you're just being sent left, right and centre, it's very traumatic."
Multiple interview requests made to Family Services regarding the mothers' stories were denied. CBC News also submitted a series of generic questions about the foster system, which were not responded to.
This comes after a 2023 report by the Auditor General of Canada issued a scathing review of child and family services in Nunavut. Regarding foster care, it found that Child and Family Services didn't know about the well-being of the children they included in their sample size.
In addition, the report found that of the foster homes surveyed, "the department did not thoroughly screen these new homes or carry out required reviews of the established ones."
"We concluded that the Department of Family Services consistently failed to take action to protect and support the wellbeing of vulnerable children, youth, and their families in accordance with legislation, policy, and program requirements," the report stated in its conclusion.
Lily said she initially called Child and Family Services when she was struggling with postpartum and post-trauma depression in 2016, which led to harmful thoughts about her kids and herself. However, the department only intervened once an acquaintance of hers called RCMP.
Her children were placed in foster care for three months, she said.
"They came home with scars; they came home with missing hair," Lily said, adding one child told her they were forced to eat different food than their host family.
It wouldn't be the last time they would be put in the system. In 2018, they were taken away again for several years.
Lily said when she tried to get answers, two Department of Family Services employees blamed her instead for the situation.
She said she had a meeting with deputy minister Jonathan Ellsworth over it, but hasn't seen any improvement.
"I've spoken about how it had affected my children and my family," Lily said. "It's unfortunate that I still have to deal with the same system; that systemic racism."
Sophia, who has struggled with alcohol, said she has had her own issues with the foster care system. Some of her children went into the system in 2020.
She hasn't heard from her children since then because, she says, Family Services is still figuring out how to put them in touch.
In the meantime, Sophia heard from members of her former partner's family that one of her children was sexually abused — a revelation that upset her so much she went to the Family Services office and screamed at the worker on site.
"I started screaming at her and asking her why she didn't tell me and why did I have to hear it from my friend," Sophia said.
"I smashed up her desk and threw her garbage."
Sophia said Family Services workers also told her one of her children didn't want to be returned to her home.
"I don't believe that," she said. "I believe she wants to go home to her mother and family."
Both women say they want things to change at Family Services.
Lily said she has tried to be part of that change — she was accepted into the social service worker program at Nunavut Arctic College and hopes to one day be able to support families herself.
In the meantime, she is still trying to get answers from Family Services about what her children went through.
"I don't know where else to go," she said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
a day ago
- CBC
Quebec 'closely monitoring' tuberculosis in Nunavik, minister says, as doctors call for more resources
Quebec's health minister says the province's public health service is "closely monitoring" the tuberculosis situation in Nunavik, in the wake of a letter from the mayors of the region's 14 Inuit communities calling for the declaration of a public health emergency. "We take this situation very seriously," Health Minister Christian Dubé's office told CBC News. "We will continue to follow the recommendations of public health experts on this subject." Public health experts who spoke with CBC News said they are facing resource shortages and need help in order to adequately address the rising numbers of active tuberculosis cases in the region. Six Nunavik communities currently have outbreaks of tuberculosis, and the region is on track to set a grim record for the third year in a row on the number of cases in the region, said Yassen Tcholakov, the clinical lead on infectious diseases for the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services. "We have rates that are comparable to the countries with the most [tuberculosis]. If you take certain communities in isolation, those rates are comparable to the most dire setting in countries that have extremely minimal health resources," he said. He said tuberculosis, while treatable, kills most infected patients within a few years if left untreated. Those who are treated are sometimes left with lifelong problems like scarring on their lungs. If nothing changes, he expects the number of cases in Nunavik to keep growing. "When I hear people calling for a public health emergency, I hear a cry for help — and an observation that the health system is not reaching the expectation of what the population would like to see," Tcholakov said. In a separate statement to CBC News, the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec said it has mobilized teams to determine the best way to follow up on the requests mayors made on Monday. It said that as of June 7, there have been 56 cases so far this year of tuberculosis reported in Nunavik — even higher than the 40 cases the region's mayors referenced in their letter. Neither the minister nor the department committed in their statements to declaring a public health emergency. The department wrote that it is taking "the time to carefully analyze the situation" before acting. "We are aware that the increase in tuberculosis cases adds to the already numerous challenges [Nunavik] faces regarding access to quality, continuous and safe care and services," the department stated. Faiz Ahmad Khan, a respirologist at the McGill University Health Centre who also works at the health centres in the Nunavik communities of Puvirnituq and Kuujjuaq, said there has been a "chronic shortage" of medical resources in general in Nunavik for years — an issue that also impacts the tuberculosis response. "I think the mayors have raised a very legitimate demand," he said, with regard to the call for a public health emergency. Such a declaration would give health centres the ability to request the resources they need, he said. Khan said resource shortages mean that sometimes entire families have to fly out just to get screened for the disease. In some communities, people also have to fly just to get an x-ray in order to be diagnosed. All of that delays treatment. "Sadly, I'm very worried that there could be more deaths on the horizon from [tuberculosis] — which is totally unacceptable in Quebec in 2025," he said.
2 days ago
Dentists praise Canadian Dental Care program, but also express concern over influx of new patients
A northern Ontario dentist says the Canadian Dental Care Plan has generally been positive, but he worries it could cause issues meeting higher demand for dental care over the long term. In June, eligible Canadians between the ages of 18 and 64 can start receiving dental coverage under the plan. Dr. Thomas Detert, a dental surgeon based in Blind River, said the dental plan is bringing in patients who haven't been to a dentist's office in years. Some of them are like over 10 or 15 years because when they retired, they lost their benefits, he said. In some cases, Detert said those patients had good oral hygiene habits and didn't need significant dental care. But in other cases, they put off going to the dentist until they were in serious pain, and needed significant work. While the program has benefited those people, Detert said there's a risk demand for dental care could outstrip the ability of dentists and other oral health professionals to meet it. Much like our socialized medicine in Canada, without proper prevention and education, the demand [has] outstripped any amount of supply that can be thrown at it. And that's what I'm afraid of for socialized dentistry, he said. Around 3.6 million Canadians have been approved by the Canadian Dental Care Plan and around 1.9 million people received care through the plan, as of April. Dr. Jerry Smith, a dentist from Thunder Bay, Ont., and the past president of the Ontario Dental Association, said another 4.5 million Canadians could qualify for the plan with the cohort of people between the ages of 18 and 64. Smith agreed the plan has been positive for people who might not be able to afford dental care otherwise. But he worries a shortage of dental hygienists and assistants will make it challenging for dentists to properly serve an influx of new patients. In Ontario alone, there is a shortage of about 3,400 dental assistants and about 5,500 dental hygienists, he said, quoting figures from a 2022 analysis conducted by the Ontario Dental Association. The Canadian Dental Association estimates that with the increase in patients from the Canadian Dental Care Plan, Canada will need an additional 2,300 dental assistants and over 1,500 dental hygienists in 2025. The numbers from the Ontario Dental Association reference its estimates for the total shortage in the province. In a statement to CBC News Marg Harrington, the CEO of the Ontario Dental Hygienists' Association, said that while some dental practices might struggle attracting dental hygienists, the narrative of a provincewide shortage is inaccurate. The fact is there are more dental hygienists in Ontario than ever before, Harrington said. Registration data from the College of Dental Hygienists of Ontario show a steady increase over the past few years in the number of dental hygienists registered in Ontario. Harrington said that research published last month in the BMC Oral Health journal showed that Ontario had 97 registered dental hygienists per 100,000 population in 2023, which is substantially higher than other provinces. Jonathan Migneault (new window) · CBC News
CBC
2 days ago
- CBC
Nunavik's 14 mayors call for public health emergency over tuberculosis cases
Social Sharing The mayors of 14 Inuit communities in northern Quebec are demanding the provincial government declare a public health emergency as tuberculosis cases in Nunavik reach the highest reported level in recent history. In a letter Monday to Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé, the mayors wrote that two issues precipitated the demand: an "unprecedented surge" in tuberculosis cases, and what they say is a plan by the province to cut back on infectious disease resources for Nunavik. CBC News wasn't immediately able to verify the cuts in question. Last year, the region's health board reported 95 cases of tuberculosis. To date in 2025, the mayors wrote, 40 cases have been reported. "These statistics are a direct reflection of colonial systemic racism that continues to dictate health policy and resource allocation in Quebec," the mayors wrote. "Inuit in Nunavik are not treated as equal citizens under Quebec's health system." Nunavik faces record surge in tuberculosis cases 1 month ago Duration 2:55 In March, the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services said in a news release that six out of the 14 communities were experiencing active outbreaks. Aside from being the highest case count, it was also the highest number of simultaneous outbreaks they had recorded. The situation is "out of control," said Adamie Kalingo, the mayor of Ivujivik, a Nunavik village with about 400 residents. "Now we have a very high rate of tuberculosis cases, which we think could have been avoided if the health system could have worked with us more rapidly," Kalingo said. The mayors listed nine calls to action for the Quebec government, including sending emergency medical resources to the region. They are also calling for urgent investment in water, housing and utility infrastructure, as tuberculosis can spread more easily among overcrowded households. "It's difficult to gauge who has it or who hasn't. It's a very difficult situation, and it is all that much more dangerous for children, for elders that get a lot of [visits] from friends and relatives," Kalingo said. "So there is the matter of spreading it freely among friends and relatives. It's very hard to try to stop it." The mayors collectively described the state of Nunavik's health services as "abhorrent," alleging there aren't enough qualified staff, there are high levels of burnout and turnover, and basic health resources for tuberculosis, like testing kits and lab services, aren't readily available — if they're available at all. "Medical resources currently in place are insufficient to maintain regular large-scale screening needed to slow the spread," the mayors wrote. They pointed to the quick response of the health-care system when dealing with recent outbreaks in Montreal as an example of what Nunavik needs. "Inuit from Nunavik have died of TB in very recent years, and according to physicians working in the region, we will see more severe cases and more deaths unless the crisis is addressed with the resources needed," they wrote.
