Many Nunavik children in state of crisis, human rights commission says

Jean Charest, the premier of Quebec and the province's youth minister, should "take personal control" of efforts aimed at fixing Nunavik's youth protection system, Quebec's human rights commission said last week in a devastating final report.

"A large number of children are physically, psychologically and sexually mistreated. Some children, despite their young age, are addicted to alcohol, drugs or other substances that cause serious physical or mental disorders," says the 82-page report, released last week in Kuujjuaq.

At the same time, investigators found that Nunavik's social network – youth protection, social services, housing, education, youth justice – fails to give children and youth the protection to which they are legally entitled.

The result? Many Nunavik children exist in "a state of crisis," rejected by their parents, living in overcrowded, violent homes and at high risk of sexual abuse. Some turn to alcohol, sniffing, drugs, or suicide to ease their pain.

Because of these failures, the commission declared that the rights of Inuit children and young people in Nunavik have been infringed under Sections 1, 4 and 39 of the Quebec charter of human rights and freedoms.

The commission also says it's up to Makivik Corp. and other regional organizations to take the lead in dealing with the neglect and abuse that many Nunavik children and youth endure.

And Nunavik's politically "ambitious project" for a new form of government within Quebec means the region's organizations must act "to ensure protection of the children," says the commission.

Benoit Pelletier, Quebec's native affairs minister told Nunatsiaq News the commission's revelations were shocking and unacceptable.

And he agrees with the commission that Nunavik communities and Nunavik organizations must work together to correct the problems.

"It's simply not realistic for us to be in every house every night as a government to settle the problems that come up and intervene," Pelletier said.

"The state has a limited capacity to get involved because we're dealing here with family problems. So the shouldering of the responsibility has to be shared between Quebec, Inuit leaders, organizations which represent Inuit and the parents themselves."

Quebec will make sure the commission's 21 recommendations for improvements are carried out, but Pelletier said Quebec is not the only party that needs to act.

Pelletier said it's Nunavik parents who should be the most concerned about the plight of children.

"If this is happening, it's because the parents put up with these situations that endanger youth. It's because it's in the homes that all this is happening," Pelletier said.

The commission launched its investigation in 2002 after receiving two complaints concerning 13 Nunavik children. The complainants alleged that the two directors of youth protection in Nunavik – one in the Ungava region, the other in Hudson Bay – did not provide adequate services to those children, in violation of their rights.

In its wide-ranging investigation, commission probed the entire youth protection system, analyzing 129 child protection cases and interviewing about 120 people.

What they found was shocking. For example, they found that a girl was sexually assaulted by two youths at the Inukjuak youth group home. Another girl was assaulted by a security officer on the night that she was admitted.

Makivik Corp. made no immediate response to the commission's call for urgent action. A news release from Nunavik's regional board of health and social services said Makivik would support the health board's efforts to improve services.

But to do that, the cash-strapped Tulattavik and Inuulitsivik health boards need more money from Quebec, Jeannie May, the regional health board's executive director told Nunatsiaq News.

"Show us the money now," May said, although she wouldn't say how much the regional health board is asking for.

Pelletier said Quebec would respond at next month's Katimajiit meeting on economic and social development in Kuujjuaq, which will be attended by Charest and other officials from Nunavik and Quebec.

Pelletier said he wants a discussion of the commission's report on the meeting's agenda.

May said the report contains factual errors, although, overall, the regional health board supports the commission's recommendations.

However, the commission's final report notes the regional health board did not comment on the earlier factual reports the investigation submitted in 2005.

The health board previously said the reality described in these factual reports has changed since the commission's investigation in 2003-4. May also repeated this assertion during a recent interview.

The moves taken by the regional health board include courses in parenting and to improve self-esteem, healing workshops and the creation of an inter-organizational working committee to find solutions for youth, construction of 27 housing units this summer, and structural changes at the region's two group homes and rehabilitation centre.

But the commission insists the regional health board needs to make "children and families a key priority." It recommends the creation of new committees with focused work plans, more alcohol and drug treatment programs, more training and support for staff and foster families and a resident judge in Nunavik.

A call for more housing is also among the recommendations attached to the commission's report. The commission says the housing shortage makes everything worse, from living conditions for children to a lack of housing for professional staff.

The commission also wants to see changes to traditional adoptions, including mandatory family assessments. One in four children born in Nunavik from 2000 to 2004 was adopted. Many adopted children end up under youth protection, says the commission, and are sometimes treated as family "whipping boys."

In one year, the commission will conduct a review of youth protection to see if youth protection is improving in line with their recommendations.