Foster-care organization fined for giving cannabis to youth, charges stayed against personnel

A gavel sits on a desk in Ottawa on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

A former foster-care organization has been fined $35,000 for giving high-risk youth cannabis while under their care, with charges being stayed against members of the management team.

On Tuesday, Spirit Rising House, a for-profit organization that operated 14 foster homes in Manitoba, pled guilty to providing cannabis to children under the guardianship of multiple Child and Family Services (CFS) agencies.

As part of the corporate plea bargain, charges were stayed against the foster-care organization’s four directors — John Bennett, Christine Ormiston, Ian Rabb, and Kelli Register — along with three other staff members.

Court heard that illicit and dispensary cannabis was provided to the youth “to manage their behaviour and offer an alternative to engaging in otherwise more harmful substances and activities,” according to an agreed statement of facts.

A CFS assessment described the youth in Spirit Rising House’s care — in Winnipeg, the Rural Municipality of West St. Paul and St. Andrews — as “highly vulnerable” that required intensive support due to substance abuse and trauma.

Crown attorney Alana Parishin told the court that foster parents and staff were told by the organization that cannabis was approved for the youth by CFS agencies, though this was not the case. Only two of the children had medical prescriptions for cannabis, according to the Parishin.

Court heard that that amount of cannabis given out varied by house and youth over a number of years, with some receiving the drug daily. Some foster houses also had staff that would roll joints and keep a “cannabis stash” in a safe.

Bennett, Ormiston and Register “endorsed” this form of harm reduction and supplied the cannabis to multiple homes, Parishin said.

In February 2024, the Winnipeg Police Service’s child abuse unit began investigating the organization’s operations after Southeast CFS reported that an internal investigation found that Spirit Rising House was providing cannabis to youth without a prescription.

The internal investigation was prompted by a Reddit post made at the end of January, court heard.

Parishin said the organization also failed to provide specific addictions programming to the youth, despite receiving funding and claiming it would be offered.

In March 2024, Southeast CFS—which had guardianship over 21 of the 34 children living in Spirit Rising House homes—advised the organization that their funding agreement would be terminated. By the end of that month, all youth were removed to new placements and the organization ceased operations.

Defense lawyer Richard Wolson told provincial court Judge Kusham Sharma the organization’s intent was to “do well for the youth that they had in their homes. And that said, they did well for the youth in many respects.”

Wolson said the organization had no ill-intent by providing the youth with cannabis.

“It wasn’t malicious, and it wasn’t intended to hurt,” Wolson said.

He said the fine would be paid by the end of the day Tuesday.