Grandma says CFS abandoned her family

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This article was published 03/07/2009 (5958 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — Child welfare workers "betrayed" her family, the grandmother of two children involved in a high-profile custody battle told court Thursday.

The woman testified in court that her son made "good progress" after child welfare authorities apprehended his children last year after the man’s daughter attended school with racist symbols and phrases drawn on her body.

When the man split weeks later with his wife — the children’s mother — he moved into his parents’ apartment.

The woman said her son now cooks regularly, holds down a job as a security guard and has tidied up his bedroom.

Manitoba Child and Family Services was "not forthcoming" about how the man could take steps to be reunited with his children, the grandmother said.

She said the man’s family felt let down by unreturned phone calls to CFS. One worker "used" them to collect information, she said. "I don’t feel they’ve done a good job."

CFS is seeking a permanent order of guardianship for the two Winnipeg children. The government agency claims the children’s parents are unfit to raise them, in part due to emotional abuse related to their white supremacist beliefs.

The children’s mother has abandoned her claim for custody and is charged with credit card fraud.

But her husband told court Thursday he wants the children, despite what a CFS lawyer presented as a spotty work history. The former heroin addict said he can be a good father, even if he has never attended parenting classes, leased his own apartment or had an Addictions Foundation of Manitoba assessment done of his drug and alcohol consumption.

"To me, I’ve done a lot," he told a CFS lawyer under cross-examination. "To you, I guess it’s nothing."

The grandmother said she is against the white pride movement, which she was unaware her son supported.

She told court she instructed her son before he moved in that his friends were not allowed into her apartment.

"CFS had us scared about who he was involved with."

She said the family is frustrated with the lack of details workers provide, citing confidentiality.

Though she said her son and his former wife were often "broke," her conversations with the couple after they married in 2005 indicated their life was "hunky-dory."

Visits with her grandkids after the family returned to Winnipeg went smoothly: "I had no concerns. (The children) seemed happy, well-dressed, well-fed."

The man was bullied in school due to his small size, his mother said. She asked teachers to fail her son in elementary school so he could improve his language skills.

"I’d never known someone who’s dyslexic," she said. Eventually, her son was diagnosed with the learning disability as well as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

A clinical psychologist who treated the man before his children were apprehended told court his client had taken steps to monitor his drinking. The psychologist said he was "optimistic" about the man’s potential to parent his children with the support of family. The psychologist said he did not consult with people the man knew about what his client told him during their sessions.

gabrielle.giroday@freepress.mb.ca