If every child matters, why no public inquiry?

It is shocking to find children living in encampments with their parents. It is deeply disturbing to find young people who have aged out of child welfare living in encampments with their families of origin.

As founder and executive director of St. Boniface Street Links, I have encountered both. These are experiences that stay with me. They leave me asking what happened to these children and families, what help they received and what support might have prevented their homelessness.

They also make the Manitoba government’s rejection of a public inquiry into Child and Family Services difficult to accept.

On Oct. 8, the NDP defeated a motion calling for an inquiry into systemic failures in child welfare. This is a puzzling position for a government committed to advancing Indigenous issues, particularly when Indigenous children and families are so profoundly overrepresented in the system.

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine has been a strong advocate for Indigenous women and girls. I would expect that advocacy to include a willingness to examine openly whether the child-welfare system is protecting children and supporting their families.

Every child must matter. The contradiction between that commitment and the refusal of a public inquiry is disturbing.

The province is undertaking an independent external review of CFS funding and governance. That is important and necessary. How we fund services influences what those services can provide, where resources go and whether families receive help before a crisis.

Historically, Manitoba’s child-maintenance funding was tied to children being in care. In 2019, the province introduced single-envelope funding, intended to give authorities greater flexibility to invest in prevention and family reunification. Reviewing whether that model provides adequate resources and achieves its purpose is essential. We need to know whether funding supports keeping families safely together and meeting children’s needs.

But funding and governance are only part of the story.

Children experience the system through relationships, placement decisions and the availability of help. They need someone who listens when they say they are frightened. They need stable homes, dependable adults and timely mental-health care, addiction treatment and recovery supports. Families need assistance that addresses their circumstances before those circumstances become grounds for separation.

We need to examine whether those things are happening.

There has been meaningful progress in recognizing Indigenous authority over child welfare. Federal legislation took effect in 2020, affirming First Nations, Inuit and Métis jurisdiction and establishing national principles for services. The Supreme Court upheld the law in 2024. This progress deserves recognition and support.

An inquiry must respect Indigenous jurisdiction and be shaped with Indigenous governments and rights holders. It must also provide a meaningful voice for children, families, caregivers and adults who grew up in care.

The practical question remains — are children safer, are families better supported and are young people leaving care prepared for adulthood?

A young person’s need for support does not end with a birthday. Most families understand this. We continue helping our children as they learn to manage money, pursue education, find work and establish a home. Young people leaving care deserve that same patience and dependable support.

When I find them in encampments with their families of origin, I wonder what opportunities were missed along the way. What might have helped that family years earlier? What did the young person need before leaving care? Who was there when their plans fell apart?

The gang involvement we encounter among Winnipeg youth raises further questions. Children barely through adolescence are pledging allegiance to gangs. What belonging or protection do they believe a gang offers? Where could family, community and public services have provided something better?

Child welfare does not explain every instance of homelessness, addiction or violence. These problems have many causes. But childhood experiences shape the adults we become, and we cannot ignore the consequences of trauma, disrupted relationships and inadequate support.

I have worked on child-welfare issues for decades. It is distressing to hear the same calls for reform while continuing to encounter children and families whose needs have gone unmet.

Manitoba has held inquests and inquiries into child deaths and child welfare before. The Phoenix Sinclair inquiry produced 62 recommendations addressing protection and underlying conditions such as poverty. Inquiries can identify failures and provide a foundation for constructive improvement.

Their value depends on implementation. A public inquiry should examine what became of earlier recommendations, what worked and what remains unfinished. It should lead to funded commitments, clear responsibilities, deadlines and public reporting.

The province’s poverty strategy identifies young people leaving care as a priority. Yet it sets no numerical provincial poverty-reduction target with a deadline. Families need to know what improvement government is committing to achieve and when.

Children and families continue to take a back seat to other provincial issues. We pay dearly for that neglect when unmet needs become emergencies. Earlier investment in housing, family support, treatment and opportunities for youth could prevent suffering that later interventions struggle to repair.

Our children are our future. They need our attention now.

The funding and governance review should proceed. So should an independent public inquiry that examines children’s experiences and outcomes across the system.

Every child must matter — including the child in an encampment, the young person leaving care and the adolescent seeking belonging in a gang.

The province should reconsider its refusal. These children cannot wait through another generation of promises.

Marion Willis is founder and executive director of St. Boniface Street Links.