A deadline is looming for the Selinger government.
The province set a deadline of June 1 to end the use of hotels for children in care of Manitoba Child and Family Services.
"We are determined to end the practice of placing vulnerable children in hotels when a crisis occurs in their lives," said Kerri Irvin-Ross, family services minister.
"The best way to do this is to offer supports that will help families look after their children at home so they don't have to come into care in the first place,” said Irvin-Ross.
She said the province has added 90 emergency shelter beds and 80 permanent CUPE child-protection workers.
Since May 11, no children in CFS care have been in hotels in Winnipeg. But the province can't say the same about rural and northern Manitoba.
Kids in care there are being given a six-month extension.
"Why has she broken her promise to have no children in hotels by June the first of this year?" asked Jon Gerrard, Liberal MLA.
The province said it will take time to create new emergency foster care for rural and northern areas.
Once that happens, Bobbi Pompana from the Southern Authority hopes that will be the end of children housed in hotels.
"If that happens and that continues, then yeah. I don't think we would need the hotels," said Pompana.
Still, critics wonder if the province can be taken at their word.
“They cannot keep their promises. They made a promise back in April that they would have kids out of hotels. Now, it's a conditional promise. And if you look back in history you'll find they made identical promises back in 2008. They didn't keep those either,” said Ian Wishart, PC family services critic.
