Why is system failing children, asks Tory critic

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This article was published 28/10/2010 (3131 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba's family services minister should reveal how the system failed a four-year-old girl who was killed in Stuartburn this week, the Opposition Conservatives say.

The province said Wednesday that Dillon Belanger had once been in care of child and family services.

Bonnie Mitchelson, the Conservative party's family services critic, said Family Services Minister Gord Mackintosh has a lot to answer for about the case, including how long Dillon was in foster care and why children are being placed with people with criminal records.

Dillon's mother, Mary Joana Belanger, faces charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault and failing to provide the necessities of life, according to court documents. She has a criminal record that includes house break and enter and theft under $5,000.

"We need some answers, we need some accountability, we need some transparency. We need to get to the bottom of what's going on," Mitchelson said today.

"Ultimately the buck stops on the minister's desk. He is the minister responsible for protecting children when they come into care. And these vulnerable children are falling through the cracks of the system," she said, referring also to such kids as Gage Guimond and Phoenix Sinclair who died despite interventions from CFS.

Mackintosh said Wednesday that the Belanger family had "some historic involvements with child welfare agencies" in both Manitoba and Ontario.

Mitchelson wondered what mechanisms are in place to monitor children who are moving back and forth across the border.