9°c Partly cloudy
19°c Variable cloudiness
Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
A disconcerting case of bad memory loss
JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Delores Chief-Abigosis (top) says she may have visited the family home more than her records show.
Maybe the dog ate Delores Chief-Abigosis's notes.
That's as likely as the explanation given by the former social worker for her apparently laissez-faire approach toward Samantha Kematch and Steve Sinclair's CFS file. Chief-Abigosis spent a second day on the stand at the Phoenix Sinclair inquiry insisting she may have visited the family home more often than the records show. She is hampered by an apparent inability to recall much about the tragic case, but said repeatedly those visits were possible.
It's also possible I won a Pulitzer Prize and forgot to tell anyone, and about as likely. She was trained to take those notes and that was her practice.
Chief-Abigosis had the file from November 2001 to August 2002. Records show that from Feb. 9, 2001 to July 4, 2001, no one from CFS had direct contact with the family. No one saw Phoenix or Echo, the baby who came after her.
Chief-Abigosis didn't know Kematch was pregnant with Echo and didn't visit her in the hospital. She had a large caseload, of course, and testified she was very busy working full time, going to university full time and commuting to Winnipeg from the Brokenhead reserve.
Inexplicably, not a single lawyer asked her how it was possible to attend university full time and work full time as a social worker.
Her time on the stand was a volley of lawyers' questions and flat non-answers. Jeff Gindin, lawyer for Steve Sinclair and Kim Edwards, showed her a lengthy list of people who knew the couple and allegedly supported their parenting efforts. He used Nikki Taylor, then an employee of the Boys and Girls Club, as an example. Do you remember phoning Taylor, Gindin asked. I don't recall, came the inevitable answer.
Gindin persisted.
There's no evidence you checked out Kim Edwards, the woman who took care of Phoenix for much of the time Chief-Abigosis held the file. What did you do?
"I can only present what is in my notes," she said, still insisting it was possible she'd done more.
"So you either lost the notes, didn't make notes of important things or didn't do them," Gindin said.
Chief-Abigosis said it was culturally common for a child to have multiple caregivers. That may be, but surely CFS should be checking them out. On June 29, 2001, the CFS crisis response team got a call that Sinclair was drinking. Phoenix was supposed to be with Sinclair's family or her godmother, Kim Edwards. No one checked to make sure she was OK.
On July 6, Chief-Abigosis went to the home herself and saw Sinclair caring for baby Echo, but Phoenix wasn't there. He said friends were looking after her. She didn't check that out. Echo died July 15. The social worker attended the funeral.
Gindin confirmed Chief-Abigosis spoke to Samantha after the newborn's death.
"That's what my notes say," she responded.
"After you found out about Echo's death, that's when you heard from Samantha?"
"That's what my notes say."
"She thought Steve was in some way responsible for the death?"
"That's what the notes say."
Chief-Abigosis is not the first CFS employee to suffer memory loss. We've heard repeatedly that 12 years have passed, there was nothing extraordinary about this family and caseloads were very high. All true. But other people, including Chief-Abigosis's supervisor, were able to review the case notes and shed significant light on the case.
Listening to Chief-Abigosis testify, I thought about the social worker involved with Samantha Kematch when she was in her teens. She saved the woman's firstborn by making him a permanent CFS ward, two years before Phoenix was born. She had a very heavy caseload at the time.
When we spoke Saturday, she vividly recalled her contact with Kematch and her conviction that she never be allowed to parent. She visited the hospital when the baby was born. When she talked about the newborn, she smiled. She remembered his little round head, she said, and what a sweet baby he was. She remembered.
lindor.reynolds@freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 28, 2012 A4
Fact Check
Have you found an error, or know of something we’ve missed in one of our stories? Please use the form below and let us know.
More Local
- Back to Top
- Return to Local
More Local
(1 of 50 articles for this week)
Decades-old smoke bomb found behind Crescentwood home
05/23/2013 7:17 PM 0
About Lindor Reynolds
National Newspaper Award winner Lindor Reynolds began work at the Free Press as a 17-year-old proofreader. It was a rough introduction to the news business.
Many years later, armed with a university education and a portfolio of published work, she was hired as a Free Press columnist. During her 20-plus years on the job she has written for every section in the paper, with the exception of Business. She’ll get around to them some day.
Lindor has received considerable recognition for her writing. Her awards include the Will Rogers Humanitarian Award, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists’ general interest award and the North American Travel Journalists Association top prize.
Her work on Internet luring led to an amendment to the Criminal Code of Canada and her coverage of the child welfare system prompted a change to Manitoba Child and Family Services Act to make the safety of children paramount.
She has earned three citations of merit for the Michener Award for Meritorious Public Service in Journalism and has been awarded a Distinguished Alumni commendation from the University of Winnipeg. Lindor was also named a YMCA/YWCA Woman of Distinction.
She is married with four daughters. If her house was on fire and the kids and dog were safe, she’d grab her passport.
lindor.reynolds@freepress.mb.ca
Poll
Most Popular Local
- Flood money paid for CEO's romantic trip
- Crash claims two young women, RCMP say
- First Nation celebrates groundbreaking on city's first urban reserve
- Housing a little more expensive in Manitoba: RBC
- Lake St. Martin reserve close to getting new home
- Some good news, some bad news from weatherman
- Manitoba senators weigh in on scandal
- 'I told them, "I think that guy downstairs is dead"': teen witness at murder trial
- Drug dealer sentenced to 3½ years in prison
- Jockey club launches $350-M civil suit against province
- Charleswood deaths being investigated as domestic incident
- Man charged, victims identified in double homicide
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- Flood money paid for CEO's romantic trip
- Crash claims two young women, RCMP say
- Developers to unveil plans for bold downtown tower
- Police identify slaying victims
- Apple trick on Ellen falls short for city woman
- Aboriginal leader Elijah Harper dies
- 'Responsible Winnipeg' ads appear on sign run by mayor-owned Goldeyes' baseball park
- Hundreds pitch in to dig out houses damaged, destroyed by Ochre Beach ice floe
- A child-custody catastrophe
- Charleswood deaths being investigated as domestic incident
- Man charged, victims identified in double homicide
- Co-worker 'sick' today? Maybe it's the $17M flu
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- '2 minutes after I read the winning numbers, I retired': Winnipeg lotto winner
- Parents, community relieved and elated as missing boy found safe
- No threat from bag found at Winnipeg Square
- Man missing since 2009 found safe
- Baby steps toward empathy
- Flood money paid for CEO's romantic trip
- U of M president targets low tuition
- City chiropractor guilty of beating, sexually assaulting ex-girlfriend
- Drug dealer sentenced to 3½ years in prison
- New units to help keep invasive aquatic species out of province
- Housing a little more expensive in Manitoba: RBC
- Jockey club launches $350-M civil suit against province
- New provincial restrictions on buying cigarettes
- Bethania board puts CEO on leave amid probe
- Developers to unveil plans for bold downtown tower
- Crushing blow for amateur sport
- Aboriginal leader Elijah Harper dies
- Fishing for fashion
- Famous city grocer loved job, customers
- Core grocer a challenge: expert
- Grocer Joe Cantor dies at 88
- Newly minted MD a beacon for kids in youth program
- North End proud
- Power restored to Linden Woods after goose collides with lines
- Hundreds pitch in to dig out houses damaged, destroyed by Ochre Beach ice floe
- Mental-health patients get own ER
- A child-custody catastrophe
- An uncommon phenomenon
- Steen invests $1M in family entertainment centre
- Earls on Main going, but new one coming
- Province introduces changes to rules governing landlords, renters
- Developers to unveil plans for bold downtown tower
- Crushing blow for amateur sport
- Boost same-sex curricula: union
Ads by Google
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.
Have Your Say
New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.