Before the findings of the Hughes commission report on the death of Phoenix Sinclair have been lost and forgotten and before the next child dies needlessly, we must all be reminded that there are more issues at play than the effectiveness of the Child Welfare System.

The article “Broken Childhoods” in the Winnipeg Free Press, February 8, 2014 was helpful in outlining several serious and significant issues, some of which go back to the very way in which Europeans took over the land and culture of the Aboriginal people who live here. The authors, Sanders and Welch do a fine job of connecting the dots between colonialism, system mistrust, poverty, poor mental health and child neglect that together can lead to abuse and worse.

The toxic mixture of these entrenched forces has resulted in a disproportionate number of Aboriginal people living in poverty and of Aboriginal children in care. Many children in care are there because of the burdens that living in poverty impose on them, including the stress of transience. The Hughes commission emphasizes this reality several times but we have known it for years. The question remains, “Where is the will to do something about it?” The recommendations that are aimed at the Child Welfare System are clearly the responsibility of the Manitoba Department of Family Services. There are also programs within the Manitoba Government, including those linked to the AllAboard Poverty Reduction and Social Inclusion Strategy that are specifically aimed at reducing poverty. However, responsibility for attacking the root causes of poverty does not rest with provincial governments alone.