Update 11, Gitxsan Grandmothers Struggle with #ChildWelfare #Poverty #Genocide

Today was another court date, but thankfully, I didn’t have to attend because the VACFSS director decided to adjourn the date for another month. 

My grandson Angel is now 1 year and 9 months old, and this is the longest I’ve ever had to deal with the ministry. It’s an exhausting process that wears you down and leaves you feeling hopeless. 

Even though I’ve had Angel living with me for the last nine months, I know that at any moment, a social worker and a police officer could come knocking at my door to take him away. Canada has made it nearly impossible for us to keep our children. I’m tired, and I feel like I can’t fight this battle anymore. The ministry seems to be looking for any reason to put him back into their care, and I have lost all faith in VACFSS and any agency in Canada that handles Aboriginal child welfare.

Today was particularly hard. I had to sit through a session where a privileged lawyer spoke about how “you can’t just help them get their children back; they need to take steps before they can look after their kids.” It was frustrating to hear this in a room filled with ignorance, and I felt like my voice didn’t matter.

It’s clear that change doesn’t come easily. People need to follow rigid policies before we can even begin to address the systemic racism that permeates this system. 

All in all, it’s been a rough day filled with feelings of oppression. But I won’t give up. For my grandson and for our future, I will keep pushing for change. We deserve to be heard, and our children deserve to be home.

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