A 15-year-old First Nations girl who was severely beaten while under the care of Manitoba Child and Family Services has been taken off life support.
The girl’s family made the decision Wednesday. Her condition was unknown, although Grand Chief David Harper said she was still “breathing on her own.”
The attack happened on April 1 outside a downtown Winnipeg hotel.
Police charged a 15-year-old boy with aggravated assault and aggravated sexual assault in connection with the case. At the time of the attack, the boy and the girl were both in foster care and being housed at the same hotel.
The attack prompted renewed calls for CFS to stop using hotels to shelter children. The Manitoba government has vowed to end the practice by June 1.
Tina Fontaine, the 15-year-old aboriginal girl found dead in the Red River last August after running away from a new foster home, had also been previously sheltered in a hotel.
In Manitoba, 90 per cent of kids in care are aboriginal compared to 53 per cent in B.C. and 18 per cent in Ontario.
On a per capita basis, Manitoba has a larger challenge than other provinces. The province has 10,000 children in its care. Ontario, a province with nearly 11 times the population, has only one-and-a-half times as many in care. British Columbia, with nearly four times Manitoba’s size, has fewer, at 8,000.
With files from The Canadian Press
