Unfortunately, in line of my work in protection, I was confronted with a structure that had too much red tape bringing with it many walls for the Inuit women and so much oversight that women did not get the benefits of justice.
Use my skills to take care of the vulnerable children
It all started when I went to work with the department of youth protection. At the time, I thought wrongly that I would be able to use my skills to take care of the vulnerable children who came through as the wards who needed protection. Moreover, my teaching skills should have come in handy to help mothers and grandmothers who were taking care of children.As it was, the grim reality was that I was directed like a firefighter running from one crisis to the other and neither had time to reflect on what was happening nor encouraged to do different, such as doing prevention work.
This is how it went: when we heard from someone that a child might have been mistreated, we were told “Put some intensity on that family” and when we went to Court, we were told “Get ready for the circus”. What do you make of those two phrases?
Find another way to help the Inuit children
As I was hard put to do what my heart desired, I decided I had to find another way to facilitate protection for the Inuit children. At that time, I didn’t know what it was to be, I just knew something had to be done.Documenting on models of child care
I believe nothing happens for nothing. Sometimes, we just don’t know why. So as the months went by after leaving the North, the project started to take shape in my mind. I was still in my social work practice at the time, but in the background something started to shape up. I was documenting on models of child care.The Inuit have better notions of their children’s needs
It is not up to me to work the how it can be put together. I trust the Inuit have better notions of their children’s needs, but I thought: If I can raise awareness as to how it is now and get people to talk about it, I could help find a workable solution with multiple others and bring solidarity as the forefront value to promote doing something for the children and their mothers who experience so many obstacles to parent and protect their children.SOLIDARITY is a value I adhere to
Like everything else that matters, it is a long-term project. Basically, when I became aware of some of their issues, it reverberated inside as a calling. I measured the impacts on the children and their mothers and I felt a responsibility to inform and teach those closest to me to become good neighbours to the Inuit. SOLIDARITY is a value I adhere to.The North is probably not the only place where there are too many high end players with their own agendas and too well written scripts emphasising the importance of child protection to the exclusion of understanding of family context.
Walking 8000 kilometers across Canada
I am walking 8000 kilometers across Canada because I feel connected to the Inuit women and children. There are legal services in Canada, but is there justice?I want to raise funds for a safe house for each community so as to reduce the number of placements on or out of their territory of the Inuit children. And we must reduce the inequalities in the treatment of justice by making sure everyone knows their rights. Oppression is rooted in the structures of sexism, racism and justice reflects some values of our society that need to be changed for all women.
I say it “as I saw it”. I cannot represent all the stories of the whole in the way of the communities. Some communities fare better than others.
My felt knowledge and my experience are trustworthy
I do not claim to be an expert. I am speaking of my experience, as a witness and I aim to get at our collective humanity. I give voice to my perceptions. My felt knowledge and my experience are trustworthy. My intent governs my choice of words in recalling events.Overcrowding creates less than optimal conditions
My actions as I walk are guided by my awareness of the Inuit reality I witnessed: I know there are no roads in the 53 Inuit communities across Canada, 14 in Nunavik; no residential judge for prompt due process of law; few women shelters; fewer services and few culturally appropriate programmes. Women face invisible homelessness and high costs for airfare with the incidence of spousal violence. Overcrowding creates less than optimal conditions for harmonious relationships.I work with what I know and this knowledge keeps me on the path. Removing children from the care of their mothers or threatening to remove them without providing resources to support the mothers perpetuates the blame-culture and fails to reduce the effects on children of exposure to violent behaviors.
Communities play a central and critical role
I come as a human being, not as a race or a people. I am inclusive. To advocate an inclusive approach is to recognize at the outset that communities play a central and critical role in the implementation of any policy to improve the lives of all children, and express the intention of strengthening all existing communities to develop accessibility requirements specific to the needs and interests of their people.Because I was a child, because I was a mother, because, now, I am a grandmother, I choose to live in a world where the sun rises above each child’s head.
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