Judgment against care-provider that gave pot to kids sends strong message: minister

Manitoba’s families minister says a judge’s decision to fine a defunct foster-care provider that gave marijuana to kids in its care sends a message of deterrence, while others say it raises questions about accountability.

“You shouldn’t be giving drugs to children that are the most vulnerable and in need of incredible support,” minister Nahanni Fontaine said in an interview Wednesday. “It should be a message for anybody else that has the privilege of working with children who are in care: it’s not a right, it’s not a business.”

The families department was made aware of the drug allegations in February 2024, and severed ties with Spirit Rising House the following month.

Spirit Rising House pleaded guilty and was fined $35,000 Tuesday as part of a deal in which charges were stayed against the for-profit provider’s four directors — John Bennett, 57, Christine Ormiston, 38, Ian Rabb, 60, and Kelli Register, 56 — and three support staff.

An agreed statement of facts said providing cannabis — at times illicit cannabis — to youth was part of Spirit Rising House’s “harm-reduction strategy” to manage their behaviour and offer an alternative to engaging in other more harmful substances and activities. Neither of its former spokespeople, Rabb and Register, commented Wednesday. Register said she was advised by her lawyer not to make a statement.

The court’s decision to stay the charges against the owners and operators raises questions about equity and accountability in the child welfare system, said Jamie Pfau, president of the Manitoba Foster Parents Association.

“If a birth family, particularly one that was Indigenous or otherwise marginalized, had provided marijuana to minors, would the response have been the same? If a foster family had done so, would the outcome have differed?” Pfau asked.

The case is “profoundly disappointing but, sadly, not surprising,” said the former foster parent who holds a doctorate in community health sciences. Pfau said it signals tolerance for misconduct in for-profit care settings.

“Children in care deserve far better protection and accountability than this outcome represents,” she said.

Sherry Gott, the provincial advocate for children, said she’s not a member of the medical or judicial systems, but has concerns about the youth who received marijuana at Spirit Rising House.

“There is very real potential for long-term impacts to youth mental health and youth addictions for the young people who were provided cannabis at Spirit Rising House,” said Gott, who was unavailable for an interview Wednesday but responded to questions by email.

“Young people who are placed in settings like Spirit Rising House deserve safe, adequate health care which is in their best interest and in keeping with their unique rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,” Gott said.

Progressive Conservative families critic Jodie Byram called the case disturbing.

“Obviously, there should be stiffer penalties. Youth are placed in homes hoping to find a safe place, a stable, healthy environment, and when stuff like this happens, it perpetuates further abuse,” she said.

“When you have an organization handing out unprescribed cannabis, it’s a huge problem. I believe this is what we’re trying to steer our youth from, and to teach them different coping mechanisms, different behaviours to manage emotions. That’s what some of these organizations should be helping with,” Byram said.

The families department launched a review of the operation and other providers when the drug allegations came to light and issued a compliance order for Spirit Rising to stop handing out cannabis. The province advised child-welfare authorities and agencies not to place other youth there.

“It’s really important to note that when this came to my attention, one of the first things we did was (end) that relationship with Spirit Rising (House).” Fontaine said Wednesday.

“I think that (Tuesday’s) decision confirms what we knew and why, as minister, I took definitive action right away to ensure that we were ending our relationship with them,” Fontaine said Wednesday.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca