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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Phoenix Sinclair inquiry Chiefs blast bid to stall proceedings

By: Chinta Puxley

Posted: 02/7/2012 1:00 AM

Phoenix Sinclair (CNS CNS)

First Nations chiefs are outraged by an attempt by social workers to derail an inquiry into the death of Phoenix Sinclair.

They say a legal motion by the social workers' union is a stalling tactic aimed at preventing the truth from coming out in the long-awaited inquiry into the death of a five-year-old girl who had spent time in foster care.

Grand Chief Derek Nepinak with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said the move smacks of hypocrisy at a time when First Nations communities are constantly being lectured about accountability.

"One component of our society talks so much about accountability for First Nations people but won't even be accountable for their own actions in dealing with our children," he said.

"Here is a prime example of a stalling tactic that is only going to delay the important recommendations that are going to come out of this inquiry that could lead to better protection and could lead to saving children's lives. It's very disappointing."

The request from the social workers' union comes just months before a commission is to start hearing testimony -- more than six years after Phoenix died.

Chief Morris Swan-Shannacappo with the Southern Chiefs Organization said First Nations want the inquiry to go ahead so child welfare can be examined and improved. He compared the system, with about 10,000 children in care, to residential schools.

Chiefs aren't interested in pointing fingers, he said. They are only interested in making things better for aboriginal kids.

"The truth needs to prevail," he said. "We want to see the truth come out of this inquiry so that these things don't have to happen again."

Garth Smorang, a lawyer for the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union, says the inquiry is overstepping its bounds. He said after going through 38,000 pages of evidence commission counsel handed over in December, union lawyers concluded commissioner Ted Hughes doesn't have jurisdiction under law to look into the circumstances surrounding Phoenix's death.

The union's motion is to be heard before the Manitoba Court of Appeal on Thursday.

Phoenix was five when she was killed by her mother, Samantha Kematch, and stepfather, Karl McKay, after years of abuse. Both were convicted of first-degree murder in 2008 and have exhausted their appeals.

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 7, 2012 A5

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