QUEEN’S PARK – The Ontario NDP are calling for action after a recent Global News investigation revealed that youth from northern First Nations are being targeted by group home operators looking to turn a profit:
“These companies see our children and youth as a steady source of revenue instead of people,” said NDP Deputy Leader Sol Mamakwa (Kiiwetinoong). “Children in Northern Ontario are being sent thousands of kilometres away from home to a place where they are viewed as a paycheck and are vulnerable to abuse and neglect. Our children and youth are not dollar signs – they are human beings who must be treated with care. This has to stop”.
“It’s absolutely devastating to hear these stories”, said MPP Monique Taylor (Hamilton Mountain), Official Opposition critic for Children, Community, and Social Services. “Children across Ontario are falling through the cracks in a failing group home system that puts profit over care, especially when they can’t access care in their own community. It’s shameful, and the Conservatives need to take immediate action to stop this predatory practice.”
Background
- In Nov 2022, the same investigative team uncovered a system of abuse taking place in for-profit group homes across Southwestern Ontario. The Ontario NDP called for an investigation.
- Children from remote and fly-in communities are regularly sent thousands of kilometres away to for-profit group homes. One young person from Grassy Narrows was sent 2100 kms away
- Of the 300 group homes in Ontario, 135 are for-profit
- In Canada, 54 % of children in foster care are Indigenous, but account for only 7.7% of the child population according to Census 2021.
- The 2011 National Household Survey also shows that 38% of Indigenous children in Canada live in poverty, compared to 7% for non-Indigenous children.