The chief of Tk’emlups te Secwepemc says the new federal Bill C-92 on child welfare was a major talking point at the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs Annual General Meeting earlier this month.

Roseanne Casimir says no baby should be taken from their mother, which is what the bill is expected to help prevent. “It’s going to be more about inclusion of family. It’s not going to be about taking away ones children, it’s about providing the resources and helping to maintain the child’s inclusion within the community.”

Casimir indicates that Indigenous communities are eager to have authority over children in foster care. “I know that for us, our roles are going to be more jurisdictional, and we’re going to have a say in how any kind of apprehension is not going to be tolerated, and we’re going to be involved. It takes a community to raise a child and we’re going to be stepping up to that plate.”

Bill C-92 was introduced in February and the was passed it in late June, before the House rose for the summer. It passed despite some opposition in Manitoba.