Manitoba’s child welfare agencies are suing the province for more than $250-million, alleging the government is holding back money.
The lawsuit alleges that the provincial government is “unilaterally holding back 20 per cent of the funding from First Nation and Metis Welfare agencies.”
“The province is clawing back and it’s going into provincial revenue,” said Harold Cochrane, the lawyer representing the child welfare agencies.
The agencies say the province wanted them to give over their special allowance payments from the federal government. They allege that when they wouldn’t hand it over, the province reduced their payments up to $40-million a year.
“We do spend close to $500-million dollars of funding and the child maintenance funds do pay for things like food, for recreation, for shelter, for things like recreational purposes” said Scott Fielding, Manitoba’s Minister of Families.
Fielding said other parts of Western Canada use a similar approach. He said this policy is inherited from the previous government and the province is working to reform the child welfare system.
