The Grand Council of the Crees released a wide-ranging Youth Protection report March 20, linking challenges in health, education and justice, and calling for urgent reforms in Cree communities.
The report makes more than 70 recommendations calling for culturally rooted, collaborative reforms. Cree Youth Protection Commission leaders from education, health, policing and justice pointed to challenges from declining student well-being and rising chronic disease to the lasting impacts of intergenerational trauma.
Chisasibi psychologist Lorraine Spencer said commissioners have carried out consultations with Cree Health Board employees since April 2023.
“The purpose of the Cree Youth Protection Commission is to hear from community members,” Spencer said. “We know the challenges in Eeyou Istchee, we know what will work for us, we have the capacity that make changes, we have the financial and human resources, we have our traditions, our culture, our language, our values.”
Spencer stressed the need to involve extended families and social workers as key links between professionals, foster parents and relatives, while calling for better training and closer follow-up to prevent abuse.
“It is our responsibility to find solutions for well-being of our children and families,” she concluded.
Recommendations are made more urgent by the long history of discrimination against Indigenous children in Quebec and recent allegations of abuse.
Last November, Quebec Superior Court authorized a class action lawsuit over abuse and discrimination faced by First Nations, Inuit or Métis children admitted into youth protection centres in Quebec since 1950. It seeks damages from the provincial government, Santé Québec, 16 regional health authorities, the Nunavik health board, and the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay.
The lawsuit highlights systemic issues that echo concerns raised locally in Eeyou Istchee. “Unfortunately, something’s not working in our system in terms of youth protection,” acknowledged CHB chairperson Jeannie Pelletier.
Pelletier says the CHB will not create a wholly new Cree-led program but instead focus on addressing the 70-plus findings identified in the commissioners’ report: “The work will continue. It’s going to be a living report, the work has already started, and we’ve addressed certain issues already.”
Following the consultations, the CHB has initiated programs such as family-group conferencing to provide greater outreach and support for at-risk families, she said.
“We give them a voice before they embark into the system to ensure the family is given a voice, especially the child,” Pelletier continued. “This has already started through Nishiiyuu, the work is continuing and will be presented with the final action plan.”
Jonathan Sutherland, administrative assistant at CHB’s Pimuhteheu Group, said the report focuses on what leads youth into protection services.
“They [the commissioners] really wanted to understand where the poverty and inequalities are coming from,” Sutherland explained. “They are going to ask one of the departments to explore this and generate some sort of statistics.”
Another key finding is addressing intergenerational impacts of residential schools, which disrupted traditional parenting roles and knowledge.
“They want to emphasize prevention to support family members through training or workshops on parenting,” Sutherland said. “Because of the legacy of residential schools, a lot of parents expressed that they didn’t know how to raise their children since they weren’t raised by their own parents.”
The report recommends programs that strengthen parenting skills. Sutherland notes that reconnecting youth with Cree culture helps build their identity and prevent against future risks.
“It’s teaching kids to canoe, set up a bush tent, make fires and other traditional practices that help them connect with who they are,” Sutherland observed.
The commissioners emphasized strengthening Cree language use in homes and schools, and Sutherland believes this is a key protective factor for children.
“It’s obvious that among younger people, English is more common now,” he said. “They felt it was important that there should be a strong emphasis on Cree, especially with the services.”
The Commission was originally initiated under former CHB chairperson Bertie Wapachee, who wanted to better understand why a growing number of Cree youth were entering protective care.