The idea of First Nations jurisdiction over Indigenous child welfare has an ally who spent part of his career as a high ranking official in Saskatchewan’s Social Services Ministry.
Former Assistant Deputy Minister Tim Korol says the system is broken with no chance of repair.
Korol who also spent 16 years as a city of Saskatoon police officer and another 14 in human rights investigations and enforcement says the province has spent 30 years doing reports, studies and reviews without success.
Korol stresses change is needed and supports First Nations self-governance.
He will speak at Wednesday’s Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations Special Chief’s Assembly on Child Welfare at the Whitecap Dakota Nation near Saskatoon.
About 70-percent of the over 5-thousand Saskatchewan children in care are Indigenous.