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The long-awaited resumption of a public inquiry Wednesday into potential connections between Manitoba?s child-welfare system and the horrific death of a little girl at her caregivers? hands kicked off with a plea from the man charged with leading it.
?We must be mindful of why we are here,? Phoenix Sinclair inquiry commissioner Ted Hughes warned prior to the start of witness testimony after a delay of more than two months prompted by a court challenge over his decision-making powers.
?A little five-year-old girl who suffered a tragic death, received or whose family received, during her lifetime child welfare services,? Hughes continued. ?Let no one lose sight of the fact that that is why we are here ? the centrepiece of our work, as a lasting memorial to the short life of little Phoenix Sinclair, is the protection of all children, particularly the most vulnerable of them throughout this province.?
The inquiry continues to probe the circumstances of Phoenix?s first apprehension by the now-defunct Winnipeg Child and Family Services agency starting April 24, 2000, just after the girl?s birth.
A key focus of Wednesday?s hearings was on the girl?s biological mother, Samantha Kematch, who as a child was herself had a troubled history with CFS and had already had another child apprehended prior to becoming pregnant with Phoenix.
She appeared ?ambivalent? at the prospect of parenting the little girl when she arrived, the inquiry has heard.
Kematch and her former boyfriend, Karl McKay, are currently serving life prison terms after being convicted in 2008 of first-degree murder for Phoenix?s 2005 killing at a home on Fisher River First Nation. Phoenix was abused and confined in the home?s basement. Her body was buried in a shallow grave on the reserve and not discovered for months after she died.
In May 2000, she and Phoenix?s father Steve Sinclair consented to keep Phoenix in CFS care for three months as they followed a seven-step plan in hopes of eventually being able to parent her.
Part of the plan included provisions that Kematch undergo a psychological assessment and she and Sinclair attend parenting classes, which she did.
Supervising social worker Andrew Orobko said the hope was if the parents followed through and showed ?parental capacity, parental motivation,? they would be able to regain custody.
There was nothing remarkable about Phoenix?s case at the time, Orobko said. It was like many other cases he and his six harried social workers handled in Winnipeg?s North End ? cases often weighted down by the baggage of terrible social conditions and dysfunction.
?It was very typical of the work we did on a daily basis in the north of Winnipeg,? Orobko said.
Social worker Kerri-Lynn Greeley authored a report on the case in October 2000 before handing off her file to another worker. She testified CFS didn?t require Kematch and Sinclair to undergo a full parental assessment with a psychologist.
?I can?t remember why we didn?t consider (it),? she said.
Greeley?s evidence continues Thursday. Phoenix was reunited with Kematch in September 2000.
Hughes said the inquiry now expects to hear its final witness by May 31, 2013. He planned to ask the province to allow him to produce his report and recommendations by Sept. 30.
Reporter James Turner is live-blogging the Phoenix Sinclair inquiry.
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Source: http://www.winnipegsun.com/2012/11/14/cfs-worker-hoped-phoenixs-parents-would-step-up
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