Province 'didn't understand who Innu people were,' says inquiry commissioner

There was a stronger shift toward hearing from people accountable to children in protection this week at the Inquiry Respecting the Treatment, Experiences and Outcomes of Innu in the Child Protection System, as four individuals responsible for child and family services took the stand.

Commissioners and community members heard pre-recorded testimony from Wanda Lundrigan, who worked as an assistant deputy minister in the provincial child protection system; Michelle Shallow, the former provincial director of child protection and in-care; and Jennifer Barnes, the former provincial director of in-care and adoptions. 

Social worker Lyla Andrew also spoke at the public inquiry, sharing testimony on her decades of experience working with Innu in Sheshatshiu. 

After formal hearings concluded on Thursday, inquiry commissioner Anastasia Qupee said she was struck by how little the provincial government understood about Innu culture.

"I think that people within government had very limited knowledge of Innu people, especially when they said they didn't really know the impact of the intergenerational trauma," Qupee said.

Qupee noted that some frontline workers did try to alert government officials about issues with child and family services in Innu communities.

On Thursday morning, Innu Nation counsel Benjamin Brookwell questioned Lundrigan, Shallow and Barnes about a 2004 report written by social worker Colleen White, which was shared with the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate, the regional director of Child, Youth and Family Services in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, and then Minister of Health Tom Osborne.

"Child, Youth and Family Services (CYFS) in Sheshatshiu, N.L., is at present a completely reactionary agency that fails miserably even in its ability to react. This truth needs to be known and change must come," White wrote in 2004, reflecting on her time working in the community.

White said the caseloads of social workers in Sheshatshiu more than doubled the provincial average for other communities in 2004. She also said the system "does not support its own mandate to make efforts to intervene early in the lives of children at risk and to even prevent child maltreatment and family breakdown."

Brookwell asked the panel whether the provincial government was aware of White's concerns. Shallow, who said she was likely the only panellist working with the department at the time, said she had no recollection of seeing the report.

On Monday, social worker Lyla Andrew spoke about a report she wrote in 1992, calling for Innu-led family and children's services. The recommendations of that report, too, made little impression on government, said Andrew.

Looking to the future of an Innu-led care system

According to commissioner Mike Devine, about 100 Innu have come forward with their stories as part of the inquiry — relaying experiences with residential schools, sexual abuse, forced removal of children, and other traumatic incidents in the child and family services system.

Edward Nuna, the healing services lead with the inquiry, is currently studying social work online with a group of about 20 Innu in Sheshatshiu and Natuashish. As a social work student, Nuna said the formal hearings this week were a "good learning opportunity," especially when it comes to learning the history of social services in Innu communities.

If the inquiry does lead to Innu taking charge of child protection services, Nuna said he and his classmates will be prepared to work within a new Innu-led system. 

"I think we'll be ready to help with the development and implementation of the new social programs to help with the community," he said.

Nuna said he's already seeing gradual changes in the child and family services system. "You know, I don't think you see as [many] children coming into care now," Nuna said.

"Hopefully more children will come home."

The next round of formal hearings for the inquiry is slated to take place in Natuashish this July. Commissioners Qupee, Devine, and newly reinstated chair commissioner, James Igloliorte, will spend the next few months investigating the deaths of six children in care.

The deadline for the inquiry's final report was extended by the provincial government earlier this year, to Oct. 31, 2026.

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador.  Click here to visit our landing page.