WINNIPEG -- One of Manitoba's largest child welfare authorities says changes made since the death of a five-year-old girl have made the system one of the best in Canada.
The General Child and Family Services Authority has submitted closing arguments in writing to an inquiry looking into the death of Phoenix Sinclair in 2005.
The authority says there are fewer children coming into care now and it is far less likely that anything like what happened to Phoenix could occur again.
Lawyers for the province say in their written submission that funding for child welfare has tripled and the number of frontline workers has increased by 30 per cent.
Commissioner Ted Hughes is examining how Phoenix -- bounced in and out of foster care -- slipped through the cracks in child welfare and how her murder could have gone undiscovered for months.
Her mother and mother's boyfriend were convicted in the child's death.
Final submissions to the inquiry are scheduled to wrap up next week and a report is expected by December.
