Province failing young people in many ways, advocate says
Published Saturday November 21st, 2009
New Brunswick's child and youth advocate called on a group of high school students from across the city to remember slain teen Hilary Bonnell as they become the leaders of tomorrow.
"Life for children on New Brunswick First Nations is not always pleasant and as the recent death of Hilary Bonnell reminds us, it can sometimes be short and tragic," said Bernard Richard.
Richard, who's in the midst of preparing a major report on First Nations child welfare in New Brunswick, said young people hold the power to one day correct the wide gap between First Nations in Canada and the rest of Canadian society.
He made the comments Friday as he spoke to a group of about 200 students from Leo Hayes High School, Fredericton High School and Ecole Sainte-Anne at Le Centre communautaire Sainte-Anne.
In presenting his annual state of children and youth address, he said New Brunswick is falling short in many ways. Whether it's child poverty or providing more mental-health services to young people, he said the province needs to bolster its efforts to keep young people from falling between the cracks.
But he said the plight of First Nations children is particularly disturbing.
"It's a horrible situation and it's unbelievable we're not making more progress on that front," he said.
Richard said he hopes young people can help make a difference.
"They are the same age as her; these kids are leaders," he said.
As part of their research, Richard and the committee preparing the report visited every Maliseet and Mi'kmaq reserve in the province in recent months. His first stop was the Esgenoopetitj First Nation - formerly known as Burnt Church.
He was there Sept. 2, three days before Bonnell, a 16-year-old from the community, went missing. Her body was found last week after two months of searching. She was laid to rest Thursday.
Police have a suspect in custody, but no charges have been filed in Bonnell's killing.
Her disappearance cast a pall over the visits and discussions in other aboriginal communities, he said.
He said the visits opened his eyes to the chasm that exists in a country that is ranked as one of the top five countries in which to live.
"Ranking First Nations alone would put them at a position of 78th among 174 countries," he said.
"It's the Third World in our world. I think we need to talk more about it."
He said the social conditions on many First Nations communities are heartbreaking. He thinks most New Brunswickers would be shocked by the disparity.
"I think we don't know our neighbours very well "¦ I've met with elders and youth, and service providers and talking circles."
He said one talking circle took more than four hours before everyone got a chance to speak.
"It was dramatic and just heartbreaking and heart-wrenching stuff to hear about child abuse and sexual abuse and domestic violence and addiction and crime rates that are 10 times what they are in non-native communities," Richard said.
He saw communities that didn't have adequate schools, some children were going without basic dental care because of poverty and aboriginal people were living in sub-standard housing, he said.
Particularly troubling in New Brunswick is the fact that there are low educational outcomes, children in custody, children facing drug addiction and children living with fetal alcohol syndrome. Alcohol, drug and gambling addiction are all prevalent, Richard said.
It can happen in any community, he said, "except it's 10 times as great because it's a catastrophe on First Nations."
He said he hopes Bonnell's case will help expose some of the conditions in First Nations communities.
"The example of a young native person facing the challenges of violence, abuse "¦ certainly I heard a ton about that," he said.
"I think Hilary Bonnell is the perfect example of young aboriginal women being overrepresented in women disappearing in Canada as a whole.
"It is really a national tragedy that young aboriginal women disappear."
Alexandre Deslongchamps, a Grade 12 student at Ecole Sainte-Anne, said Richard's description of the hurdles facing other young people in New Brunswick was an eye-opener.
"I had no idea, and a lot of people here didn't have any idea about all these things aboriginal people are going through," Deslongchamps said.
Richard said he hopes young people will come away invigorated and eager to help change the situation.
"There can be no doubt that First Nations children deserve the same chance in life as the rest of us," he said.
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