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Huu-ay-aht First Nations said it is “very pleased to announce that, almost two months after she gave birth to her new daughter, a new mother is now able to return home to Port Alberni with her baby.”
Provincial Court of British Columbia Judge Flewelling ruled in that the baby must be returned to the custody of her mother no later than Saturday, March 17, reads a press statement. And they will both live together will a Huu-ay-aht family, supervised and supported by the Nation. Mom will participate in recommended programs, including Nuu-chahnulth and Huu-ay-aht specific programs.
“This judgment provides strong recognition of the importance of the maternal/infant bond, and the obligation upon the ministry to fully consider the supports that are available to keep mom and baby together rather than simply removing the infant from the mother,” said Maegen Giltrow, counsel for the mother and Huu-ay-aht Nation.
“This is an especially important recognition of the role of the Huu-ay-aht community in supporting one of its citizens as she moves into the role of new mother.”
The Court said Child, Family and Community Services must establish that the director “has been active and diligent in attempting to find other alternatives to removing a child before a final determination that there are no other less disruptive means of protecting the child” and that the “least disruptive means” must be viewed from the child’s perspective, which includes that the child be “spared as little disruption and emotional distress as possible.”
The Court pointed specifically, reads the Huu-ay-aht First Nation’s press statement, evidence of the harm caused by disrupted attachment for newborns.
For almost two months, the future of this child has been in question, after the Ministry of Children and Family Development apprehended the baby girl only three days after she was born, the statement reads. The mother has been living out of a motel room in Courtenay BC, more than 100 kilometres away from her community to have access to her baby.
“In Courtenay, the mother does not have the supports that she needs from her own community and family,” said the court.
Related story: www.windspeaker.com/news/windspeaker-news/first-nation-declares-a-public-health-emergency-as-more-of-its-children-taken-into-care/